Pink.Noise

When I was a kid, my grandmother had this absolutely beautiful quilt. It has hand-embroidered patches denoting the state flowers of the 48 states that existed in 1917 (when they were made). The hand-embroidered squares seem to be made of a very crisp cotton. It has a bit of a sheen, and my mother says it reminds her of a flour sack. The backing is made of that same material, and the quilt was fairly roughly self-bound. The rest of the patches are a print on what seems to be quilting cotton, a black background with tiny white and yellow flowers. The borders are a sunny yellow quilting cotton.

All of this to say, the quilting cottons have seen much better days, they're beginning to tear, and I'd like to rehab the quilt. This quilt was put together by my great-grandmother in 1921, hand-tied by my grandmother and great aunt, out of the pieces hand-embroidered by my great-great grandmother. I slept under this quilt as a little girl and made lots of blanket forts with it. My father had this quilt on his bed all through his childhood. This quilt has been in my family for nearly a century, and worked on my women of every generation since. I'd love to be the next generation, but I really want to do this the right way. Any tips that you lovely folks can offer me would be lovely. Thanks in advance.

CurliQ

Oh my goodness. Such a piece of history. Really. There's so much in that quilt. I would have to see pictures. What are you looking for? Restoration, utilizing it, etc?

Moira in N.E. England

I guess you are in America as you mention ‘the states’. Is there not a quilting guild or museum you can contact that would be able to help you?

Jordan

Can't help you in rehabbing your quilt but just wanted to say you really have such a piece of history that you may not want to restore it. What nice memories you have of this lovely item.

Battle Axe

Analyze what parts are still good. Cut them out and frame them. Pass them out to those who remember the quilt.

KalamaQuilts

you know us greedy-guts, we always crave photos!

it sounds like the important parts are well? Some photos would really help with some commonsense ideas.

illinois

I've been told that once a person adds anything to an antique quilt, it no longer has antique value--it is valued at the newest addition. If you are interested only in the family history and the integrity of the quilt, that's another issue. If there are pieces that are falling apart, can you "simply" replace those and leave the rest of the quilt alone? Since others have put their work on it, you may not want to destroy their work. This preserves the emotional value that you have for the quilt, not the monetary value to anyone else. I assume you then will only use this quilt as a keepsake for display and not everyday use! After all, it is 100 years old.

marietta

A cousin gave me a quilt our Grandmother gave her when she was 3 or 4, about 53 years ago, and asked what I could do with it. We both can remember us and our other cousins standing in chairs around a drop down frame with our mothers and aunts and Gram going around teaching us little ones to thread the needle and stitch to quilt this quilt. Not alot I could do to restore it, the batting was all wadded up, the backing and a good portion of the border was already tattered, etc. It was a fan quilt, made with all kinds of material, cottons, feed sack, flour sack, wool, etc. 10 years ago I took a section out and framed it for her daughter when she graduated from HS. Recently took it out again and took it all apart, saved what I could and made a new fan quilt for hopefully the grandchildren she will have someday. I hand stitched the fans on the blocks and plan on sandwiching it and on my next visit getting her and her daughter and other family members together to have a quilting bee.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]607469[/ATTACH]This one of the fans, the material sure has faded over time, lol. Don't know if you can see it but the tiny hand stitched quilting.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]607470[/ATTACH]This is what I came up with, needs a border, Work in progress as always. lol
Wish you all the best with yours, Such a wonderful piece of history but especially the memories and a blessed treasure to pass along.

CookyIN

Perhaps secure the deteriorating spots with netting so as not to disturb or replace the original fabrics? You might find this article helpful; think they covered the entire quilt with netting.

http://www.museumtextiles.com/blog/t...er-crazy-quilt

sew what?

I also put together some antique blocks for a family member from his grandmother. I found a wonderful pattern called "prairie Wind" using fan blocks. Have a pic but can not figure out how to post it.