Repairing old quilts -- help!
 

i am about to attempt to repair an old quilt with sentimental value. i would appreciate any/all advice or suggestions on what i should/shouldn't do.
i've never used starch, but i'm wondering how much easier this will make repairing it. there are old folds on it from hand quilting, so i'm going to attempt to iron first & then resew the pieces back together. the seam allowances are barely there, so i am considering sewing fancy stitches to make sure the repairs hold. What kind of successes/failures have you had?

Each repair is different. I did a couple. the one I had to take the backing off. Hard to get paint out. It was a lap quilt. Some seam repair so I stitched in some ric rac in all the seams. Used some very little hexies with yo yos to look like flowers. Had a 3 corner tear in the border so I put an appliqued flower there. Used different fabric for the back. I used different batting. Paint soaked through to it. It just depends. This was not a sentimental quilt, my sister got it at GW and asked me to repair it. She got it for $2.

sounds like a TON of work! but hexies are a great idea if i didn't have so many seams to cover.....

I worked on one once. Replaced fabrics that were about gone. It was old and the pieces were nowhere near what they probably started out in shape. IF I do one again I would appliqué the pieces directly on top of the original. But, I have no intention of doing that again. Good luck to you

Somewhere on here and elsewhere I read to cover the bad spots with tulle. I have one to fix, but, Haven't started it yet. Mine will probably be covered in a big spot with tulle and re-quilt it. I don't know how it will look, but you can buy it at Jo-ann's.

I have repaired a few. When the seam had frayed and pulled apart but the fabric was still good, I ironed it smooth. Then I used invisible thread to zigzag the seam. I usually did several lines of zigzagging to catch each fabric that was joined in the seam. I matched the bobbin thread to the back of the quilt.

Each problem has a different solution. There is an excellent book called "Quilt Restoration" that goes thru step by step instructions:
http://www.amazon.com/Quilt-Restorat.../dp/0939009838

My SIL asked me to repair a quilt his grandmother had made when he was born (not crib sized). It was a lot of work but got'er done. There were a few tears and seams had come loose but the main problem, most of the machine quilting had started to come loose. I ended up hand quilting where the machine quilting was, removing the machine quilting as I went. Thank goodness it was mainly straight, not meandering! Now I try to hand quilting unless it will be an everyday, wash once a week quilt. I am afraid the machine quilting is not going to hold up like the hand quilting of yesteryear.

Really wasn't. I failed to mention It was loosely quilted like a hashtag. Seams were easy to take out. Had the hexies and yo yos in my stash. Then I birthed it. I added the ric rac after I birthed it.