I have a piece of an antique quilt top that came from my maternal grandmother. It is about 30 inches square.
It is quite fragile, and in some places the fabric has completely deteriorated.
I don’t know the date of the textile or who made it. I really don’t have any memory of my grandmother sewing or quilting, and I don’t remember any quilts that she made. As a point of reference, my grandmother was born in 1871 or 1872, depending on the source of the info.
The question is what to do with it. One suggestion from a friend who collects vintage textiles was to soak it in Biz or Oxy Clean! I’m afraid to put it in water! The colors go surprisingly well with the decor of the back bedroom, so I thought about having it mounted and framed, using archival materials.
Any suggestions?
Whew! Thanks, Marty! I thought we might miss a day of posting on this day. I checking in Monday evening and saw that nothing was up, but I was just too tired to post.
I’m not an expert on care of antique quilts – my field is more getting baby spit-up off of quilts – but I like the idea of mounting and framing it. I’d be pretty nervous about washing it, too.