What to do with a vintage quilt top and blocks...

[Sandy F.]

I have a quilt top and 16 quilt blocks that were hand pieced by my late husband’s Step-Grandmother. The fabric is from his Grandfather Claude’s shirts. Claude died in 1951 so I believe that is when the fabric dates from and the top and blocks would have been made before 1977 when Zoe passed away. I think the top was intended to be a ‘Trip Around The World’ quilt but as Zoe got farther from the center she didn’t have enough of the same fabric to go all the way around and had to add other fabrics. It is approximately 74” x 74”. My plan is to hand quilt and make the binding from my late husband’s shirts.

The 16 blocks are 14” square from the same fabrics. They are made like a Trip Around The World Block but I’m not sure what the name of the block is and I have no idea what I want to do with the blocks. I could divide the blocks between my four grandchildren and make a wallhanging set together with plain fabric blocks. I could make one quilt using all 16 blocks and give one to my son and one to my daughter.

Any suggestions????

[BleuRose]

I am in a similar situation with a vintage Dresden Plate (1930) hand-sewn pieced quilt top that has muslin background fabric but seems a bit yellow. I'm looking for answers to: what type fabric to use for backing?; Should it be cleaned in some way and when?; on a small scalloped edge that is delicate and fraying, how to bind? can I use fray-check on the edges?

[BleuRose]

professional advice is particularly invited to reply.

[Sandy F.]

#1- I like the pillow sham idea.

#2 - I had a Dutch Doll Quilt top made by my grandmother using feedsack fabric from the 30's or 40's. The sashing was very fragile and I knew I would never use it as a quilt so I took it apart and quilted and bound each block and I now have six hanging above my bed and I love them. I plan to share other blocks with family. I used Retro Wash and hand washed and air dried. I am no expert but I washed my blocks before quilting. You might consider appliquing the scalloped edge to a border to stablize it.