Hi,
I'm not usually much for quilting, but I do quite a bit of other sewing so I wanted some advice on my quilt that needs repairing.

Recently I accidentally tossed it in the dryer when I washed it. When I took it out some of the panels were torn and frayed, some on the seams, some right through the middle.

I have no idea what the block pattern is called, it's like quarter circle fans (6 panels to a fan), with a quarter circle holding the fan part together. The only parts that are damaged are the fan panels. And the only ones I can see so far that are damaged are all of the same fabric.

I'm guessing what I should do is find a fabric to replace the panels with. What I'm not sure is should I leave the old panels there and put the new ones over them, or remove them before I put new ones in? I'm familiar with applique and hidden stitching seams, none of that is a problem for me to do, just not sure how to go about it. I got this on my 1st birthday (I'm 25 now) and I've always used it, so I know it'll never be in amazing condition again, I'd just like for it to not have holes in it. Thanks!

By all means remove the bad fabric! I've seen this done on a TV show so I know that is what they do.

Betty

Nicaha
Welcome to the forum and good luck with replacing the panels in your fan. Sounds like you have got it all under control, if you can't find the specific fabric then pist us a picture of it and some of us might have a bit to help you out or hlep you find where to purchase it.

I am wondering about the quality of that piece or is it the stitching that was bad, curious why it frayed. If it is a thinner fabric you might consider a fabric that looks near the same pattern in a thicker fabric. Just a thought.

Welcome to the forum. Posting a picture would be a great help. Yes, you can replace the worn parts, I have done it on several vintage quilts.

Before you remove anything, the first thing to do is to make a pattern of the quilting. This will be your road map when you re-quilt the section.

Using a fine seam ripper, carefully cut the stitching around the affected areas. This will allow you to remove the affected sections without causing any damage to the neighboring fabrics. You will need them to be intact when you add the replacement fabric.

When this quilt was presented to you, was it a new quilt then, making the fabrics from the early 80's? It is quite possible that you could find an appropriate fabric. Even though it may not be an exact match, there are lots of 80's fabrics floating around. You can find it on eBay, or it may be that someone here can help. There are some sites on the internet where you can do fabric searches.

Use the removed pieces to make a template to accurately cut the replacement fabric. I use freezer paper for the template, and iron to the back of the fabric. That way I can press over the seam allowences. Then I use a blind stitch just like in English paper piecing. Re-quilt the section, if necessary, and you're back in business.

You did not say if the batting washed out or not. Se sure to replace it if necessary with the same kind of batting.

Good luck! Let's us know if we can be of any further help. We would love to hear how it all turns out. You may find that at some point during the process, you become infected with the quilting bug! Hope so!

Sounds like a grandmothers fan quilt to me.
http://www.mccallsquilting.com/legacy/v09_pattern_print.htm

Thanks everyone for getting back to me so quickly and for being so helpful!

Yes it was new when I got it, so the fabric is from the early 80's. I hadn't even thought of trying to find some from then online, they're all pink calico type prints so I was going to look at the fabric store next time I went, but looking online sounds like a good idea too.

I think it frayed just because it was wearing thin in places, all the stitching seems to be holding up well, it was the fabric itself that split in places. I've always used it since I got it, so 25 years of use has done a number on it, lol. Thankfully when it was made, the batting was sandwiched between two layers of white cotton fabric, so the batting is still in great condition.

Thank you for all the tips, I hadn't thought of keeping the pieces to make the template from, I probably would've had that as an after thought and tried to salvage some from the trash.

I do enjoy hand sewing quite a bit, and I loved all the pictures of the paper piece quilting that someone had linked (not sure if that was the right name of it). You may be right on me starting up some quilting, I have been saving plenty of scraps in hopes I would want to someday, lol. Thanks again all

edited to add: It is very close to what Jenell linked. Just that the fans don't have points like that, they're just flat so the whole fan makes a perfect quarter circle. The piecing is pretty much exactly the same though for the fan itself.

There's white cotten fabric behind the the ribs of the fan? Between the top and the batting? Hmmmm, it sounds as though the fan may have been foundation pieced. Are the ribs of the fan stitched to the the white fabric? If they are, it may be a little more difficult to remove the worn sections, but it can be done. You will actually be unstitching the affected areas from two layers of fabric, which means you will also be unstitching the neighboring fabric from the foundation. Just be aware of this.

Monica
Here is a pattern for Grandmother's fan, not sure if the size is fitting for your block or not but take a looks see:

http://www.quilterscache.com/G/GrandmothersFanBlock.html

Megs
Idea of saving the pieces carefully is a good idea. Also be sure to wash your fabrics first before cutting them out since the quilt has been washed this will prevent shrinkage at a later date if it does at all.

Best of luck

Be very careful here Monica........I can see a quilting addiction in your not so distant future! LOL

Here's a few pictures of the quilt and what happened to it.
a close up of a single panel that doesn't seem to be damaged:


a close up of the damage, most of the panels are like this, and it's all that same fabric on each one.


this is how it looks like altogether, it wasn't really quilted over the top, just the blocks sewn together.


Now that I really checked it out carefully when I was taking the pics, the blocks are put together kind of oddly. The fans were made separate and actually appliqued onto plain white squares. So under the fans themselves it's just white cotton fabric that makes up the base square, then under that is the batting. This ought to be quite the project fixing it up.

edit again, lol: yup Deb, that's exactly what it is for the block pattern. Thanks, I had always wondered what it was