My sis still has and loves a blanket that was given to my brother about 60 years ago. It is still a great blanket, and I use it when I am at her house. She has had it rebound at least once.

When the fabric is wearing through and the seams are frayed, it might be time to recycle it as batting for a new quilt (that is what my Grandmother did).

Nan, my sister bought one of those a long time ago and I gave her a lecture on why she shouldn't have bought a cheap import. We still laugh about it. I totally overreacted to it haha

When I was young and dumb and uninformed about what and how a quilt should be made, I made my 5 siblings a granny square quilt throw. I know at least 2 of them STILL have them; they were worn out, falling apart and the one sister who barely sews, just sewed a big patch over the area. The quilts were just tied but it was their 'go to' blanket when one of her kids was sick. They still remember it. I imagine the others are long gone.

Make a "Teddy Bear" out of old quilts....

It's a tough question - I still have my "pinkie blankie" - a white and pink quilt my grandmother sewed for me, with hand-embroidered kitten faces on the blocks. I used that quilt to death as a kid, it was patched and repaired many times and the entire back was replaced at least twice. Now it's reached a point where the fabric just falls apart if you touch it and there's really no way to salvage any of it. But it feels wrong to just throw it in the trash - that "blankie" was my "safety blanket" and helped me through a lot of bad times when I was small.

I have recently thought I should take it to our family property and bury the quilt in the area where we scattered Grandma's ashes. I feel like it deserves that level of respect, and being all-cotton it wouldn't be bad for the land.

My cousin still has his "blankie" too - his was a blue crazy quilt, and his was also patched a million times, but being a crazy quilt it's harder to tell, and having more layers has helped his stay "alive" longer. He can still point out which of the pieces are from the original quilt, though!

My mom. gone now 13years...made my two baby girls a pink and blue baby gingham baby quilt...they are now 51 and 49 and they still have the quilts...now I have made my great grandbabies one... hard to find gingham these days...I have a small wallhanging done in all gingham, grandmothers flower garden...need to quilt it and get it hemmed...one of those UF0's...but just got my George sit down machine quilting machine...so maybe I can get some quilting done...that is after I practice a lot!! Been longarming for years, but this is quite different...wish me luck...

or, you could make pillows, stuffed animals, “I found a heart” items, etc.

My grandmother used to make a cover for her old one and we tied them. I remember they were so warm and heavy. How I wish I had them now I am sure there were some worth copying. As my quilting has evolved I am making more and more copies of old ones.

When the fabric keeps tearing is when I get rid of it. With my great-grandmother's quilts - I took out a 2 foot section plus enough binding to make a small example block and then just tossed it into fabric recycling (Our community has that). The quilt my late sister had is getting some repairs and a new backing and going into the car. I don't worry about damage or stains to car quilts/afghans. I made this for her using leftover halloween fabrics, but many of them are cheapo Joann's fabrics that have faded or not lasted well.