Antique Quilt restored

A while ago I purchased an antique quilt in "As Is" condition from Ebay for $45.00.  When the quilt arrived it spoke to me, very loudly.  It was completely appliqued (I am an appliquer by preference) and hand quilted.
There were no bad stains, no pulled threads and the quilting was perfect.  All of the flower pieces were worn out and only the edges of each applique remained.  The flowers were a raspberry red with madder yellow centres (the centres were okay) and green leaves and stems.  Some of the green had turned blue (from sun exposure but this was mainly on the border.  The binding was completely worn out and mainly missing.
I decided to spend the winter cuddled under the quilt with MaggieMae and bring this old beauty back to life and this is exactly what we did

I used the back of a raspberry fabric that I purchased, (the front was too strong a colour) made a template of the flower petal that I would be replacing.  I cut off the old and replaced it with a new one (needle turned).  I decided to only replace the large flower petals and leave the small as it was as a reminder of what the quilt looked like when it arrived.

There are two small holes on the edge of one border, and I could picture some small creature collecting for her own nest , so decided to leave them, in respect for a 19th century mouse.

During the winter this quilt gave us many hours of warmth and the most fantastic dreams of the person who made it.  Was it for herself as a wedding quilt, for her sister, for her daughter or for a good friend.  Applique quilts were considered very special.

Border where the green has turned blue from sun exposure.

The full floral image after repair.

It is difficult to show the quilting, but it is 1/4" apart and 16 stitches to the inch.  This was a master quilter.
The batting is cotton boles, straight from the fields, and you can see and feel pieces of the seeds.

The finished border with a new binding.

A finished and really cherished 19th century queen size quilt.  It was professionally appraised at $4,000.00.  I made a really great buy.