I have a question for quilters. I have inherited 3 quilt tops that were originally pieced by my Great Grandmother in the 1950's, and tucked away because she died. I am the only quilter in the family now (and fairly new at it). I want to restore these tops and make them into quilts.

Replacing the fraying pieces is fairly straightforward. However, it will make them "different" from the rest of the quilt in that they will be "solid". Most of the fabric used in the quilt tops is fairly thin, likely was when she used it, so not only will the new pieces stand out because they are solid, but there is the problem of "shadowing" with the rest of the blocks on the quilt tops. It occurs throughout the tops. If it was a minor problem, I wouldn't mind. But you can literally see every seam margin, and which way it's going. I think it's quite unattractive. It's just because of the kind of material that was available then, and possibly because the material was "worn" when she used it. I'm not sure. Is there any way to fix this? I have thought of hand stitching a new patch to the underside of each patch, which would be a big job, but could be done. Is there any other way you can think of to fix this problem? Or should I just "get over it" and quilt the top "as is", shadowing and all?

All suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.

Photos?

I hope you will be able to repair it to your satisfaction.

Well, I saw a really cool art quilt at the Pacific West Quilt show a couple of weekends ago. The lady had taken an old quilt from her family and embelished it with corn stalks (to reflect her family history) and birds and stuff. It was really cool. I only took pics with my phone and don't know how to download them. Plus the quality is bad. Maybe applique something over the bare spots. And if you use Warm & White batting the backing fabric won't show through.

I found my cable! Sorry it is such a bad shot, but you get the general idea.

would it help if you backed it with like a sheet or muslin before you add the batting and the backing. perhaps that might help and wouldn't be so labor intensive.

I used iron-on lightweight fusable to back some fragile blocks in a 1930s top. They came out fine, after quilting I couldn't tell the difference in feel or appearance. :thumbup:

More than repairing the quilt, I would make a reproduction of the entire thing, and try and preserve the original.

I agree, it would look "quite unattractive" the way you're describing because it's trying to patch it, with different materials in a different style.

You can mimic the style, colors, etc as an homage. And keep those heirlooms safe!!!

That is a really interesting quilt, and a wonderful way to revitalize an older, possibly damaged family quilt.

Not for everybody to handle a project like that but I have to really admire the quilter for coming up with such an innovative solution.

Thanks for posting it.

@MacThayer - Photos would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I have used a light weight fuseable interfacing to stabilize fabrics in old quilts. Then hand quilted them. The interfacing to me was easier to quilt through by hand than some other products and didn't add stiffness to the quilt.

It's night time for me right now. I will get photos up tomorrow when I have some light, so you can see what I'm talking about. Sorry! Should have thought of that! Have never posted photos before so this should be interesting. I can say I put white batting up against the quilt tops, and it just made the "shadowing" worse. I tried black batting, thinking it might blend in the shadowing, and it changed the color of the quilt. Anyway, I'll get those photos up ASAP. I do have a dental appointment first thing in the AM, but will get right on it as soon as I get home.

I hope you are able to restore them.

It is the history of the quilt and wouldn't bother me to have the shadowing. We know it is vintage. I would repair as little as is needed due to fraying and stabilizing and then enjoy them. You can find vintage fabric on line that may be similar to the age of your quilts and do repairs with that. Sometimes I have split a seam and added a piece of stabilizer to an area that is bad and I think it just adds to the flavor of a loved quilt. Repairs are part of the whole concept of quilting. Post some Pics. I would love to see them.

Applique over an old quilt! This is fabulous. Great idea and gives an old quilt new life and that is what's all about! Thanks for posting!

Kay, you should re- post this idea in the pictures under new post. More people will see and enjoy it. It will give lots of people ideas. I love it. :thumbup:

I would like to clear up a perhaps possible misunderstanding on the fabrics from the 50's.

"Its just because of the kind of material that was available then, and possibly because the material was "worn" when she used it. I'm not sure."

The quality of fabrics available then were equal to or better than the quality we have now. It sounds as if your great-grandmother chose to use fabrics which had been taken from garments. These probably had sentimental value to her. Since they are thinner and you are having shadow problems, they sound as if they were dress weight. If they were from garments then you are probably looking at fabric from the 30's or 40's and men's shirts, women, and children's clothing. Depending on how old your great- grandmother was in the 50's and how she saved, the fabric might be even older. If she lived in a rural area or a small town then the fabric may be flour sacking as this was a major source of fabric in the early decades of the 20th century. If the fabric is only thin but without holes you may want to reinforce it with stabilizer as suggested to preserve the history of the quilt. If the quilt is a definite pattern and the fabric is color coordinated for the block selection then you can only assume your great-grandmother bought new material of her choice for the quilt top and the shadowing effect did not bother her, or else it bothered her so much that she decided not to finish the quilt.Old quilts provided a lot of interesting questions, don't they?

OK, this is my first attempt at posting photos, so please bear with me if they don't come out in the right order. There is a primarily blue quilt, a primarily green one, and a close up of a quilt block from the green quilt.

First of all, it would not surprise me if the fabrics came from old clothing of family members and other people close to her. Who knows? Something of mine could be in there too. I don't know. She didn't have a lot of money, and lived on a small pension and social security, so I'm sure she used what she could get. I doubt she could afford new fabrics. My Great Grandmother was very dear to me, and I remember her well. She was 93, and still quilting furiously, when she was killed while walking into town -- from her third floor, walk-up apartment -- to have coffee with 'the girls'. She was hit by a car, and the fellow driving the car was later convicted of driving under the influence (for the umpteenth time) and vehicular manslaughter, and he went to prison I'm happy to say. Great Grandma never woke up from the anesthesia. I was devastated. She was in such great health, who knows how many more years I could have had her in my life, and I loved her so. But that's water under the bridge. These quilt tops came to light just a month ago when I was home, and Dad opened a box he'd received when she died, and he hadn't had the heart to open it prior to then. In it were a lot of her finished work, plus these quilt tops and her quilting frame, which I now have.

Back to the quilts. When you look at them, they have an almost "cathedral" quality to them, with the patterns outlined by the shading. That would be great if they all looked the same, but they don't. (I didn't put the 3rd quilt top up there, because the blocks are so small, it's harder to appreciate the shading.)

If you look at the individual quilt piece, you'll see what I'm dealing with. In that one block, it doesn't look square, but it is. What's throwing your eye off is the fact that the seam allowance is turned part way one way, and part another way along the top and side. It's sewed in that way. It would be a bear to try to undo and flip one way or the other, because that part is machine stitched and the stitches are so teeny tiny, I'd fear harming the quilt to seam rip them out, especially on that fragile fabric. The seams turned down on the dotted squares appear to distort that square. And the funny looking blue squares are actually two tiny pieces sewn together to make a small square. There are places where she meticulously machine sewed together 2 and 3 tiny bits of fabric to make a small square, and those are even stranger looking with seams going every which way. The fact that she pulled together such a beautiful design with such scraps is a testament to her quilting ability.

So, what do you think now?

OK, so here are the photos

I don't see the problem except you are holding it up to the light. Put it on a light blanket and look at it then. Is it still noticeable?

how about using some older clothing for patches, instead of new fabric?

I am mostly a dressmaker--so take this with a grain of salt, but when dress fabric shows through like that, I underline it, or in this case, line it. Try laying a solid white, natural, and dark fabric under it--one at a time, of course. See if one of those stops the shadowing and looks nice. If it does, you could line the entire quilt. You'd need to attach it to the quilt--maybe stitch in the ditch would work if you want to machine quilt it. Otherwise, I'd baste the top and lining together thoroughly, then baste again to the batting and backing and then, finally, quilt it. My favorite choice would be Kona premium muslin--it's pretty light in weight--there are other choices, I'm sure. Now, let the more experienced folks weigh in.

Wether I hold it up to the light, or put it up against white batting, the effect is the same. I tried black batting, but that changes the entire color of the quilt.

I am looking for old fabric to use. What I need the most is lavender -- plain lavender -- can't seem to find any. Maybe it's time for me to do another one of my "Goodwill" trips.

This is good advice. Using, in essence, 4 layers to the quilt would probably take care of the shadowing that is there. I might choose a grey to do it, as white would tend to accentuate the shadows, and she states that black changes the overall cast of the quilt. But grey might do what is needed.

The layers would be top, neutral, batting and backing.

I'll pull out some colors and give this a try. Thanks to both of you!