Intensive Quilt Repair Finally Complete!

I purchased this pretty pink and green quilt at an antique mall in Missouri.  I love the colors and the interesting pattern.  There are only 3 fabrics used in the quilt, a double pink, a faded overdyed green and a maroon print.  The maroon fabric, located only around the edge, was threadbare.  A previous owner tried to help the quilt by adding a new binding.  However the wide, blue, 1940's print doesn't do any favors to this 1870's beauty.  Since the interior of this quilt was in good shape, I decided it would be worth the effort to repair.

 

My original plan was to cut off all 4 sides of the quilt to remove the damaged areas.  But doing this would've left me with only a 60" by 60" quilt.  Too small for even a twin bed.  Instead, I cut off 2 opposite sides and recycled the good blocks from the cut pieces.  These were either put on top of or in place of the damaged sections.  I originally removed the damaged blocks which took a lot of time.  I then decided to simply cover the old blocks.  You can't see the old fabric and this leaves the quilting intact.

 

 

I honestly thought this wouldn't take very long  but I spent at least 8 hours carefully removing  and replacing blocks.  Then spent another 4 to 6 hours requilting the new blocks.  And finally, a couple of hours on the binding.  I used a new double pink pink fabric for the binding.  With all the double pinks out there I had hoped for a perfect match but none was to be found.  

 

 

I really think the quilt looks better now with only 2 colors.  And the 60"X80" size is good enough for a twin bed.  Don't be afraid to experiment with quilts that need some TLC.  Of course, never do anything to a quilt that has historical significance, but your everyday quilts can sometimes benefit from a little reworking.