What beautiful treasures!

Wow those are truly beuatifal. What treasures. Do you have a quilt show in your area? Those are worth showing off. While they are hanging maybe some lookers could give you some advice too. Good luck. I'm glad to see they have ended up in such loving home. Sorry for your losses. :cry: Would love some updates on them later. ;)

Thanks for sharing! They are beautiful...I love the first..I have one of my grandmothers quilts and think of her everytime I look at it...Quilts are a special way of remembering the ones we love...

I totally agree with that. Nobody in my family quilted but I have pillow shams that my Grandmother cross-stitched her initials on.
So simple yet so lovely. I cherish them.
My Dad is gone :( He always wore silk scarves in his suit pocket. My sis and I treasure them as well. They were store bought of course, but they were his and he loved to wear them:) And I have his rosary beads in my purse as well. Just makes me happy knowing that they are with me.

Those are wonderful treasures! It is hard to know what to do with them. I would just display them as is. I have a friend whose mother took an old worn family quilt and cut it apart & framed a section for each of her 6 kids. There's others that make them into teddy bears, but yours are in too good shape to ruin them for that.

I have an old quilt with that same purple in it. I also have a trip-around-the-world with 1 complete round of fabric just gone - same as yours.

Those are beautiful. I love them. What wonderful memories.

Karla, Maybe you or your Dad have a piece of fabric that belonged to either your Mom or Grandma that could be used to fix the problem spots....or a dress or blouse of the same vintage....
They are just beautiful...such a wonderful treasure.

I've no idea how to restore quilts, I just wanted to say how lovely they are and what a great gift. To have something that your great-grandmother worked on, that her hands held. What was she thinking while she worked? Was it in the evening after a long day? Were the children playing nearby? Could she in her wildest dreams have imagined you holding them in your hands and in your heart and sharing them with other quilters around the world?

Robin--that was beautiful. Thanks. I told someone in a PM that if they were grandma's I would feel more attached, but I never came close to meeting her mother--and really don't know much about her. Your words make me feel more attached to them. I feel like I want to discuss them with her. Sigh... wish Gram showed me these before she died.

I am always amazed to realize how the things we do in an ordinary day of our lives has a way of going beyond our time to effect others. Most of history is made up of ordinary people, doing ordinary things that had to be done, but in the end made a BIG impact on future generations. <wave>

You can also get a glass display case at Hobby Lobby or similar place, and fold a quilt so that a pattern shows, then place them/it in the case for display in your favorite room. That way they are protected from further damage, not damaged by improper restoration (and some of them are so used it may be impossible to restore), AND visible to see and ooh and ahh over.

And along the same lines, one of the owners of my LQS just reproduced a quilt his (yep, it's a man) gr-grandmother had made. It was beautiful! You could do that too. That way you "tie yourselves together" with the quilt she made and the one you made.

OMG, they're gorgeous! Beautiful memories too!! You're so lucky!! ;) ;) I'm like you -- the last one is my favorite too! ;)

I like that idea!!

:-D

If you have a quilt museum nearby or a university you should be able to find someone that's an expert in fabric conservation. Ask for help/suggestions to preserve them for future generations. Personally I'd attach a label to the back stating who they were made by, when and from whom you acquired them and when & who made the restorations. I'd also photograph them before and after and put the pix in a scrapbook.
Just think of all the love it took to wear those holes!! What treasures you have in each and everyone of those quilts.

personally i wouldnt try to restore. they are precious like they are. i would store in acid free boxes with acid free paper in between layers refold once in a while. love the yo yo. im doing yo yo myself wip.

Karla...those are just gorgeous and I think the wear makes them more special. It only shows the love. I wish that someone in my family had quilted as I would love to be able to have something like this to connect us. My MIL did, but my SIL gets those. My plan is to reproduce my MIL's favorite. It is a huge orange Lonestar. I'm just waiting to build my talent to somewhere close to hers so I can make it. I'm going to take a pic of her quilt to copy.

Like yours, my Mom and both grandmothers (along with my dear MIL) are all gone now...but you can bet I'll be talking quilts with them when I see them again!

You have REAL treasures! My Paternal Grandmother made quilts by candles and lamp light in the Civil War Years. One quilt that was left was given to my Dad. It was the Drunkard's Path Pattern.
Guess who got it? A niece who was an alcoholic and drug addict. I was soooooooooo mad when I heard of the home it went to. You know if was probably sold for nothing to satify her drug and alcohol habit. O well!!!!!!!!!
Mariah

What a LUCKY person you are, to have received these lovely quilts from both your Grand Mother & Mother!! I can just feel your JOY!! :D Thank you so much, for sharing with all of us!!
:D :D :D :D

Karla, I just did a quick google search and found these display cases. You could put your folded quilt(s) in one of these and set it on a table, mantle, etc. Or you could get the taller one and put all of them folded and stacked in the case for display.

http://www.finehomedisplays.com/doll_cases.asp

Another idea for the most damaged one, is to cut out the largest undamaged portion you can that shows the whole pattern, and have it framed.

I know about the missing someone so very much. I lost my mother three days before her mother died. Grandma and I were very close. I spent most summers with her. I found one of her quilts ( adouble wedding ring) between the mattress and springs of a roll-a-way bed. Terrible shape. I could have cried.

That's an interesting idea, gai. There's no place to really display them until the kids are moved out of the upstairs--and I think I want them on a quilt rack out of the sun.

Beautiful. You might want to get in touch with the Rochester Museum; They have curators specializing in restoration. They could probably give you some advice. Or the Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum; they also have experts on the subject. Either way, congratulations on getting some beautiful pieces of family history, and I hope you enjoy them.

don't know how to fix this but I just wanted to tell u that I can relate to missing the mother/grandmother. I have also inherited 2 quilts my grandmother did before i was born & they're very sentimental materials for me. Hope u can get them fixed somehow.

How wonderful! I don't know anything about repairing old quilts. I have one of my own. I wish you well.

Wow, those are definitely to be cherished.

Shhh... Don't tell... I'm the stoic one...

Having lost my grandparents and Dad fairly young - mother had long since taken off - I just wish that I had something that was "of them." Not just something they owned, but something that really connected me to them. My grandmother quilted and crocheted, but nobody thought to keep any of it - just pitched/sold it all! Now, I wonder if that is why I do crafts - so that someday DD's will have something I made. Right now, neither of them care for it at all :roll:

What a legacy and a blessing given to you.

I have only one of my Grams' quilts out of the hundreds she made. Such a shame, but glad I have the one.

Oh what a treasure you have!! I have an old quilt from my grandmom and had a person from the museum visiting our group. She said not to try to replace those bad or worn places, but to stabilize them using very find tulle. You can see through it, but it will protect those places from losing the batting or any more of the fabric. It worked very well for me. You hardly notice it when you look at the quilt. It just blends in and disappears.

Just keep them safe, they are a wonderful link to your family. Do they have labels? if not make sure you do something so that those who come after you will know who made them.. that information gets lost so easily.

(perhaps others have suggested the same thing, you'll get lots of good advice here!)

IMHO it would be worth your while to get some older quilts at tag sales or whatever just for the fabric. Then you could cut some fabric of close color or pattern, fold under the edges and applique them over the worn out spots. The pieces that are missing or worn out are because of old dye that weakened the fabric. These are treasures of your family heritage. If you want them to last much longer you should do something to help preserve them, including patching them if you can. They are gorgeous, and if you helped them out some, they would last a long time! Enjoy them...they represent a lot of work by your grandmother.

I have a few of my Grandmothers quilts and they are well loved she always told me her quilts were to use And when I watch my great grandson play on the floor on one of her quilts Its just a wonderful feeling of knowing she would be proud of her work and the love its had about twenty years after she has gone to Jesus

I was at Latimer Quilt and Textile just yesterday and was lucky enough to join a group going into the repository. One of the old, beautiful quilts had some problems like the first one you posted and the lady there said you can use Toile to stitch a patch over the bad spots and still see the fabric under it.

My Grandmother only made one quilt. Her Mother " my great Grandmother made lots of quilts". The quilt my grandmother make had been used for years and was really worn and falling apart. Some of the blocks were still good, so we cut them out and had them framed with glass. Now all of us girls have a block that grandma made. I have mine hanging in my sewing room and think of grandma every time i look at it and of all the great times we had with her.

Oh my, what treasures....

WOW! What treasures you have! First of all, I hope you document those quilts by putting labels on the back corner of who made the quilts, date, where she lived, how old she was when she made them, etc. I have a beautiful sunbonnet sue quilt from my mom who has passed away now, (anyway I think she made it.) and I have no info about.
Secondly, if you have any area of the fabric of your quilt that is in good shape, make a copy with your printer with inkjet printable fabric sheets. Sew it into the area. It can be a little pricey if you have a lot of area to fix, but you won't even tell where you patched the areas. Good luck!

Great idea about the picture frames ! I need to do that for a friend's quilt that has been really loved a lot.

Beautiful and well loved quilts. Oh if I only had the one and only quilt I received from my grandmother I would be so happy. The fabrics in it started falling apart as it was used all the time. I do not remember what happened to it as I wasn't into quilts like I am not.

I do have a quilt from my great-grandmother that my sisters and I did not know existed until we went through my mother's things after she passed end of 1999. We found it at the bottom of a trunk with a note on it who it was made by and who she was. It has to date back to the late 1980's and before 1905. It is in excellent shape except for about 2" of the binding is worn.

Beautiful old treasures...I love the designs and he color choices. You have to cherish these and pass them along to your daughters. I being a new quilter could not tell you how to fix the ones that have worn away, but perhaps some of the seasoned quilters could help. I just love them and I too would be teary eyed. There are so many memories within the work done. Thanks so much for sharing. Gwena

I am about to use the tulle material on a quilt DH's mom made for our daughter nearly 50 years ago. some of the material near the center are wearing through. Your main concern is to stop further deteriation. Back when it was made they used the type of cotton filling that tends to seperate and go to pieces. by using the tulle, you can cover the parts that are going so the filling won't come out, and still be able to hang them over a quilt rack or folded up. What ever you do, don't try to use new cloth to patch. Jesus said, no one puts a new patch on old cloth because it will make the tear worse. Who am I to question that?

Those quilts are just wonderful. Do you by any chance have a quilt appraiser near by? If you do, that may be the thing to do with them before you even try to repair them. They may be worth more by not doing anything but loving them. Just fold the worn spots out of sight and lay them on the back of a chair or something. Show them off, but keep them out of the direct sunlight.
They are beautiful, and should be seen. Do they have labels on them? If not, you could find out all the information and put one on each of them. Then later generations will know who made them and when.
Enjoy the history with them.

How wonderful that you were chosen to be the caretaker of these treasures. What you do to them, depends on what you want to do with them. Obviously some parts are gone. Is it worth your time to attempt to restore one of these old girls ? If so, I am sure there is a lot of information available to help you.

Ditter