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Patch Repair

Another way to repair and restore an old quilt with fraying patchwork is to replace a patch with a newer one that can cover the weak seams. Here you see I've first tried to restitch both sides of the light yellow patch, but the fabric is very weak and will likely tear away from the stitches.

You can try and match the fabric you're covering, but I just try to keep to the same color if possible. I selected a light yellow calico scrap, which I trimmed and folded to cover the problem area. Some quilters will cut out the fraying patch before they do this, but I like to leave it in place to honor the original maker.

I used blind stitches to set the new patch in place, and then quilted over it. If you do this carefully no one can ever tell you've covered an existing patch.

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