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