I have a dilemna.  Here it is:

Emmie made this quilt over twenty years ago, sewing the dresden plates by hand.  Amazing.  She hates it.  At the time, a friend offered to quilt it for her to see if she’d like it any better.  She stitched in the ditch.  But Emmie doesn’t like the off-white background and blue borders, so all the quilting in the world won’t change that.   It’s been in her closet for twenty years.  She’s asked me to fix it.

The colors are vibrant.  She’d like to tone it down.  The background and borders do not match her present tastes.  How do I turn this quilt into a more modern quilt while preserving the hand stitched dresden plates?  Oh, and there is one more problem:

The plates were hand stitched onto all three layers…background, batting and backing. Consequently, I can’t just remove the plates.  I’m thinking of cutting within 1/4 inch of the  plate, removing the batting just from under the white section and see if I can turn/press the white fabric under the plate.  The plates would then have extra batting under them but that would be fine, I think, adding a little extra dimension to them.  However, then there’s the problem of sewing the plate onto the next quilt top…did I say I don’t hand sew…without compromising the beauty of the handstitching.  She’s thinking of a black and white large check for the background, or perhaps varigated dark gray?  But no decision has been made and the trip to search the fabric stores for the proper color top is waiting for the mechanics of the change to be worked out.  I would love suggestions on how to reposition the plates and suggestions for the background color.  So please, feel free to opine!