Problem Help!!
 

My DH's 93 year old Aunt brought me a quilt and asked me to quilt it for her. It is an Overall Sam quilt. So far, I have found about 4 places where she has clipped holes in the fabric with her scissors? I am quilting it on the longarm. How would you suggest that I can mend or cover these places up? They are in different places on the quilt. Some are in the sashing and some are on the block itself. I thought about maybe appliqueing some little cut out like a rope or a leaf or maybe stars.... over them and then maybe scatter some along in the quilt. Then I thought maybe some Fray check might work. But, I'm afraid that you could see that and it might not hold up to washing. Anybody got some suggestions??

Yikes! I think you have a good idea doing a little bit of applique over those pieces -- scattering it around the rest of the quilt will make it look planned.

Does you DH Aunt know about the holes? I would ask her how she would like you to handle it.

fray check would change the hand of the quilt. I think you really wouldn't like the results with it.

Applique or embroidery or similar hand stitching sounds great.

how big are the snips? Could you use a light weight fusible on the back side, making sure to get the edges lined up?

I would definitely point them out to her and ask her preference before doing anything.

Did you found those holes after you had it set up and started quilting it?

If so, my first reaction would have been "oh, snap" (or something similar!!!)

Is it possible for her to see it and for you to consult with her about what to do?

The suggestions have been good. If it were mine, I would start with fray-checking the edges and then maybe do the appliques after the quilt was off the long-arm.

What ever you do depends on the nature of the Aunt. Personally I would through leaves or stars over the quilt. If sh notices explain why gently.

I tried FrayCheck on a quilt once in a couple places due to cheapy fabric wearing out 1/2" in from the seam. I would not recommend it. It makes the fabric super stiff. It can be sticky & pick up lint while drying &, honestly, it doesn't do a very good job.

You can definitely make a little applique piece to sew on. The other option (especially if it is already partially quilted) is to order Iron On decals.

I ordered a bunch of little 1/4" Iron On button decals from this place for a McCall's baby quilt (McCall's thought it was a good idea to put forty-two 1/4" buttons on a baby quilt so I figured out a substitution). They were fantastic! I grabbed a screen shot of buttons in the colors I wanted from a button website. IronOnSticker.com not only perforated the button, but also 2 tiny buttonholes in each of the buttons. I was able to run a decorative stitch between the buttonholes for an amazingly realistic look!

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I tried a larger 2x3" sample decal they sent on a rotary cutter oopsie & it worked great! Washes fine, just can't put it on high heat in the dryer, but I don't do that with quilts anyways. And you cannot iron it directly -- you have to carefully follow their instructions about using their special paper & a hard surface. Once they're on, they're definitely set. Here's their website if you're interested:
https://www.irononsticker.com/promotion-c-1239.html

Does she have scraps of her fabric left? I would make "invisible" applique patches of the matching fabric rather than adding shapes to her quilt. she should be asked.