What a problem!! Any suggestions???
 

My niece called me the other day because she has a "quilt problem". She said that she has a quilt her grandma made (my sister says it is a quilt her Great grandma made - - this is why labels on quilts are important for this exact reason)...anyway my niece uses the quilt on her couch. I understand that she probably likes wrapping her little girls up in a quilt that her great grandma made (and great grandma would love that as well) but what happened is why she needs to be very careful. They have a dog in the house... and the dog used the quilt as a chew toy. She asked me if I could patch this up. I have attached pictures... do you guys have any suggestions? I am so glad the little appliques were not damaged. Please let me know. Thank you.

That looks more like a stress tear than dog damage. A stress tear in a quilt of this age (and this many washings) would not surprise me at all. Or ... a very careful dog :)

I could only suggest trying your best to match the solid color pink. You can either very carefully remove the torn sashing - and replace it (by hand of course), or applique the solid piece over the existing torn piece.

The best you can do is shop around looking for a good quality solid fabric that matches the quilt such as Moda Bella or Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton and literally applique over the damaged area. You may also need to replace a section of batting, then hand quilt over the new fabric making it a permanent part of this beautiful old quilt to get it to look like the remaining sections of the quilt. There is an excellent resource book called Quilt Restoration A Practical Guide by Camille Dalphond Cognac. First printing was on 1994. I know that the Fabric Shack had almost 300 colors from the Kona Cotton line. Good Luck !!

This seems like a heirloom quilt passed on from generation to generation.. Not sure of the batting used in that time frame. My ignorant idea just patch over it, trying to remove might cause more headache than any other...

My thought was the same as ManiacQuilter--appliqué over the damaged area with the best matching pink you can find, then do a little hand quilting over it In The same style/design as the original. I would just be glad it is being used and loved, it won't last forever.

since the blocks are fisher boys, maybe you could applique a big fish over the tear.

I would see if I could match that pink. Wash it a few times. Then take several cotton balls and pull them over the whole. Then hand stitch the squares together in as big an area as you need to work it in to repair the hole. Then hand quilt in the same patten that Grandma or Great Grandma did. I think that should work.

.....and if you are able to repair and return it to neice..I would gently explain to her that this quilt needs to be treated will TLC as it is in a fragile condition and hopefully could be passed on to her offspring when the time comes....

Thank you so much for your replies. That is a great idea of seeing about getting a piece from the back to patch the front. I just don't know if I can.. I will have to see how much quilting I will need to pick out. But it looks to be all hand stitched, so maybe I can. I love the idea of a fish or boat themed applique.. whether on the front or the back...... and adding a label is a good idea too. I am going to have to gather that information about great grandma