cindle

I have a couple of quilts that my grandma made a long while ago and some of the blocks are starting to come apart. The quilts she made where the kind (sorry don't know the proper name) that have the four blocks in one square. She used fabrics ranging from cotton, to stuff that looks almost like polar fleece on top but I can remember the back being really scratchy so the soft part always had to face up. I was just wondering how I should go about fixing them. My uncle also mentioned that a few of his needed fixing too. My grandma passed away and I'm just new to the world of quilting so I don't want to wreck the quilts we have to remember her by. Especially now that they can't be replaced.

luckylindy333

I would find someone who does quilt restoration and start getting them restored one by one... If that is too expensive, maybe you can find a class to learn how to restore them if you have a quilt shop in your town. Welcome to the world of quilting!

cindle

I thought I'd take a picture to show how the quit is coming apart and what the blocks look like.

ckcowl

you can slip some fusable webbing inside of the patches where they are coming apart, carefully put them into place then press. after you have fused all of the areas together set your machine up and quilt the squares, either in the ditch or 1/4" inside each patch would work well to hold everything again. i am assuming the backing is ok? i have repaired a number of quilts for people that i really thought should just be tossed but they wanted to keep them and still use them. i found using the fusable first too get everything together then stitching works well. if there are any areas that you can not put it together good enough you can applique something over those areas. using a fabric that compliments the quilt, or carefully remove the bad patch and replace it. it is a very do-able project.

mimisharon

Are the blocks coming apart at the stitch lines? That's what it looks like on the first picture. If that's what it is a good quality hand quilting thread should have you right as rain, you can use a hidden back stitch and fix it.

If it's from use and the fabrics are thinning and tears from the seams, take it to a restoration quilter (call one of your local guilds for recommendations) or LQS for help in finding someone.

You CAN use the iron instuff but for the integrity of the quilt and the age....I would try to restore it as much as possible to orgin. Are there labels on them?

cindle

They aren't really really old I don't think they would be more than maybe 15 years old the one in the picture is maybe 5 years old. I use it on my bed and it probably got that way from me rolling around lol I think I move more while sleeping then I do in the run of a day. No labels on them to say who made them or when but she was the only one in the family that made them that I know of. Thank you all for your suggestions I love this board :-D

littlehud

It looks like it could be repaired with some careful stitching. Is it just in the seam.

mimisharon

You can put a label on them, you may not know the year they were made but you can put her name and city on the label and stitch it down. It will be a good reminder for future family members.