Old quilt repair question

[mamawolf544]

My DH just rcvd' his Great Grandmother's handmade quilt. It is 100+ years old.
It has a few places that need repaired. Can anyone lead me to a direction to find someone to repair it?
I live in the DFW area of Texas.
Thanks

 

[paulsmuffen]

I would find a local quilt store and talk to them about it, they are very delicate. I restored one a couple of years ago and was scared the whole time I had it. Good luck and post pictures of it.

 

[MoriahQuilts]

If you can find some antique fabric to replace what's worn, that is best. Old clothing works, or try antique stores or ebay.

 

[NanaKat]

Yes, please post photos of the areas needed repair...we can give better advice if we know what needs repairs.

What kind of batting is inside...sometimes the old quilts were sandwiched with flannel or carded cotton fibers. Some even had no batting.

Cottons from that era are very difficult to find..feed sacking, bolt goods. There are many reproduction fabrics out there but they will not have the look or "feel" of those older fabrics.

Depending on the type of damage, sometimes it is better to stabilize/conserve the area rather than repair. If newer fabrics are used, the quilt is dated by those repair fabrics rather than the original fabrics.

Making repairs to the stitching needs to be done with cotton thread in a color similiar to the original. Some of the older quilts were quilted using the "string" used to sew the feed and sugar sacks. It is the same size as cotton crochet thread.

 

[mamawolf544]

Ok I will post pics in a couple of days. Thanks for all the help.