Patience is the key

I seem to attract dog nibbled quilts. A friend had the quilt his grandmother made for him nibbled by the dog. The nibbled portion is in the center of two borders. This vintage quilt is in need of some serious rebuilting!

I stabilized the whole (hole!) area by stitching around it with quilting thread before washing. I had to wash it because I am very allergic to pet dander and I needed to get it clean to be able to work on it. And then I drew the cutting lines in blue washable marker.

After drawing the cutting lines, I removed that very narrow (yikes!) border and then the quilting stitches for about 24". I did this so I could cut out a bit of the backing. The backing on this quilt is the same fabric as the small outer border, so I have a place to 'steal' some fabric for the front. The next step is to applique a piece of vintage muslin over the place on the back where I removed the print fabric.

I carefully removed the damaged area of the top, batting and backing cutting along the blue lines and un-sewing from the main body of the quilt. It is a very interesting chore because you get to see how the original quilt maker made the quilt. The seam that is to the left of that green square in the upper right of the photo, turned out to be only 1/8" maybe less so it is a good thing I was patient and took my time. I sprayed the blue line with water and it is drying so I can work on it once it is dry.

This is the back side of the quilt. I soaked this portion of the quilt in water because I don't want to take a chance of the lines coming through the repair. I thought that as long as the quilt was wet, I would block it so the working area is square. A new use for free weights!

You can see where I removed a strip of the backing to use as the outer border on the front. The muslin piece is pinned into place using applique pins and once dry, I will applique this down.

Here is the completed quilt! Can you find the fixed area?

How about now?

The back shows where the fix is located.

Oh, and he was so happy there were tears in his eyes!