Suggestions wanted for salvaging very used fabric
 

My gs-in-law, whose mother is deceased, asked me to repair a quilt she made him. This is going to be very challenging but I will only address the major question at this time. It is not pieced but made out of two main pieces and binding. The design side is very worn, how could I strengthen this? could I use white cotton and stitch it together (like quilting) but only the two pieces before I add the batting and the back? I think fusable would be too expensive for me as it measures about 44"x70". Or is this just impossible to do?

Are you planning to take the entire quilt apart? If so, maybe a very light weight fusible stabilizer would help. It would make it a bit stiffer, and then with new batting and depending on the pattern of the front fabric decide to quilt the whole thing or tie it. I can't imagine that if you just sewed the 2 fabrics together it wouldn't help the older fabric very much. Maybe the owner of the quilt will share in the cost of the stabilizer.

I bought a lightweight single fusible from Joann's to use on the back of the fabric which I was using for redwork.....members of my guild had been doing this to hide any thread show-thru. The fusible was something that might be used in clothing, has JAS on the end of the bolt, I think, and cost me $.99 a yard.

Jan in VA

you could try tulle in the color of the quilt and do some stippling over it if your design isn't too mangled. It would help to see a picture if you can Good luck and thank you for doing this for him