ginnie6

When we cleaned out my Grannie's house and found the Sunbonnet Sue blocks she had made they were disgusting. Mice had been around them. I brought them home and hand washed them in the sink. Rolled them up in a towel to get excess water out and dried them flat.

QuiltingrandmafromMi

I would definitely wait to wash them. They are really old, and material at that time frayed even worse that today.

Fabaddict

I wouldn't wash them either, especially not by machine. They are very fragile and will not make it thru a washer. I would do it by hand if at all.

joan_quilts

I would wait for the quilt to be done before washing.

meow meow

The saying experience talks is true... well here it goes..........DO NOT WASH THOSE BLOCKS UNTIL AFTER THE QUILT IS COMPLETED....I had some really neat hand sewn blocks (Churn Dash) that were very old given to me by a very dear friend. I decided to have a block party and sash them together with the help of my mother (who is now gone) and my three aunts. We had a blast sewing the sashing together and just making memories. I can still see us doing this and laughing and carrying on. Anyhow when it was all sashed I could not stand the smell of the old fabric so I decided to wash the top in delicate cycle. The rest is history all I have left of the quilt top is nothing but one big ravel of thread and memories. The day we put the blocks together is so dear to my heart I can't even bear to throw the top away so it is in a bag in one big heap of pieces and ravels. When someone finds the bag in my box and ask I always tell them that is a lesson in How not to wash the quilt until it is complete and making memories that last forever. My advise to you is finish the quilt then wash it. If the smell is bad take a nice day and lay them outside in the sunshine/air for a bit then complete the quilt. Have fun.

quilter53

Trif, I have to ask about your avatar.
:-) What kind of dog? He's huge!

ka9sdn

These sound old so there is danger that the fabric may not withstand washing. If really dirty, hand wash and lay to dry, otherwise make the quilt including the quilting and if necessary hand wash in the tub and lay to dry.

msariano

I would NOT wash the blocks either before or after. Since they are from your husband's " great great grandmother" they are very old and probably very fragile depending on the fabric.

I agree with Ramona Byrd--the owner should contact a museum that handles old quilts or clothing or a quilt appraiser in your area to find out the best way to deal with the blocks.

I have a quilt top from 1870 and was advised by an appraiser that due to the fabrics used and how fragile they were, she recommended that the top not be quilted because of the added stress put on the brown fabric.

While it would be nice to have a textile from your husband's family to pass down as a quilt, sometimes it does more damage because it accelerates the decaying process.

-brookfield-

I was given a chenille bedspread that I was going to cut up and use for something or other it was old and for some reason I decided to wash it, it completely fell apart. What if I had made something w/the spread and it fell apart afterwards. A lot of work gone for naught. I now wash any fabric given to me before I put any work into it.

StitchinJoy

WAIT.