This quilt is an eight-pointed star, possibly the Sarah’s Choice quilt block, in blue calico and cream muslin, and measures 84″ x 97″. The restoration areas – needed on the back and front of the quilt – basically include several of these types of issues (see images at bottom): burn marks, holes, missing batting, mysterious exposed seams, bad patching, and missing quilting.
Below are the before and after photos of each repair done so far; 4 of 8 major repairs have been completed (2/15/25). Check back for more updates!
Areas where quilt was torn were repaired and re-quilted. The women who quilted this piece were virtuoso quilters, doing about 8 stitches per inch. The back repair images are not here, as it made the page too confusing. I may add another page to show that.
Some repairs were both tears and holes, requiring replacing sections and re-quilting.
Some of those holes also showed burn marks, which were covered by replacement appliqué and quilting.
Some areas just needed to be re-quilted.
There is a large area on the back where the quilt had holes and missing batting (in red), and missing quilting on the front. Small holes where batting showed through were repaired with rusted appliqué and re-quilted. Some, as shown above, needed larger hand appliquéd pieces and re-quilting.
The above photos show two more repairs, before and after.
Below show the whole quilt view, followed by various images of some of the repairs needed:
Guiding Principals: do no harm, prioritize the front appearance, do not remove any fabric – only cover up bad areas, repair first then try stain removal (aggressive), leave current repairs as long as they are properly done. Using original fabric, white muslin, and 100% cotton thread. Will add my quilt care label and a hanging sleeve to the back.
Karoline Wallace 