Can this quilt be saved?

When we were up in New York for the holidays, we had a lovely brunch at the home of one of my wife's best friends, Kim ... who also happens to be one of my good friends, since she and Mrs. Quilt Dad were college roommates when I first met them both. In fact, it was Kim who played a key role in convincing my wife to go out with me in the first place, so I guess you can say I am somewhat indebted to her!

That's why I was happy to help Kim out when she asked me for some advice ...

As we were getting ready to leave her house after brunch, she asked us to hold one for a minute while she ran upstairs to grab something. She brought down a small, folded up bundle of fabric which, when opened, revealed the well worn (and torn) baby quilt you see above.

She explained that this quilt was her husband's baby quilt, a sentimental family heirloom from his childhood that was very important to him. But, as you can see, the quilt was ... ahem, well loved. It was stained, had holes in the top, inconsistent stitching throughout, and the borders and backing were completely shredded, exposing old and worn out batting. It was wrinkled & puckered, and the colors were severely faded in the creases.

She asked if I had any thoughts or ideas of how to preserve the quilt, and although I've never tried my hand at deconstructing and reviving old quilts, I agreed to take it home with me and take a look ...

This post was originally intended to ask you all for advice, but I was so eager to dive in that I am already several steps in to the process! Here's what I've done so far:

• Completely deconstructed the quilt by picking out ALL of the quilting stitches.
• Cut off the borders and backing, and threw it all away (along with the batting).
• Hand washed and gently pressed the main panel, taking care to flatten out all of the wrinkles and puckers.
  
• Adhered a layer of thin fusible interfacing to the back of the main panel. I felt that it really needed to be stabilized because the fabric was paper thin in parts, and I was afraid it would basically disintegrate with any further handling.
• Selected a bunch of gorgeous oliver + s prints (from the City Weekend and Modern Workshop lines) to complement the panel. In my head, I was always planning on buying some 30's reproduction fabrics for this project, but the colors in these prints were a near-perfect match for the panel, and I fell in love with the idea of giving it an updated contemporary-yet-vintage vibe.
  

I've added several borders to the panels using these prints, and I am thrilled with how it looks. As soon as I can pick up some fresh batting, I'll quilt and bind it and send it back up to New Jersey so that Kim can surprise her husband with it. I hope they're happy with my approach to bringing their family heirloom back to life!