Patching up an old quilt?
 

Hi, All,

The first quilt I ever made, when I was 22, is showing signs of wear and tear (and my not-so-sublime beginner stitching skills). There's an eight-inch opening along the border and a couple of small tears at the binding. This quilt has seen a lot of wear-and-tear; it has been a lap quilt, a pet quilt, a picnic blanket. It has been laundered a hundred times over. And, I love it.

I'd like to patch up the holes, but have never done this before. I'm thinking of appliqueing patches that cover the holes. Does that sound viable? I actually don't mind that the patches will show like band-aids on a cut--I figure it's part of the history of this quilt.

Any and all suggestions will be much-appreciated.

Best,
aso

sounds like my quilt! I made a Tumbling Blocks back in 1980, I think I have re-patched almost half of the diamonds in it. Also replaced the binding.

Go ahead and sew new patches on - sometimes if you use used clothing, you can match the look of the quilt better than using new fabric. What pattern is it?

I think patches add character to a much loved quilt, especially if it was one made by me. This seems a better option than tearing the quilt apart to redo the original parts. Have fun with this project and hope it brings back memories of the original stitching days.

Thanks so much for the validation, ladies!

Barb: It's a King's Hiway pattern. I hadn't thought to use old clothes, that's a great suggestion. I also have some solids in the same tones as the patterned colors I used all those years ago.

I agree, MaryMo, that it is better and way more preferable than tearing up the quilt.

Some of the batting has fallen out, only out of the bug 8-inch opening. Do you think I should tuck in a little bit of fusible batting before putting on the patch?

To fix the area around the border, you can fix that with bias tape, or a straight edge tape placed all around the quilt, in effect forming an additional border. You can do the same at the binding, or even sew on a new binding or another small border just inside the binding. That could be done by machine.

I think patches would be great!