Beverly Howard

It looks like it would be a lot of work to remove all the existing stitching but I understand that idea of removing the back and batting and adding new ones. I bought an old quilt at a thrift store or yard sale once that I thought was lumpy because of matted cotton batting but when I took it apart it was actually filled with old clothes which totally explained the lumpiness. There were worn spots on the top too but I intended to fix it up because it was very lively.

ETA: How much work the destitching would be depends on how strong the quilting threads are now. If you can cut them and pull it might now be too big of a job.

Here in Austin, TX Tatume is said to do well. I'd like to try Seminole too.

I live in 8B in central TX and noticed the other day that a local nursery was selling Carob and Tamarind trees.  That seemed really optimistic to me so I checked up on them. Established carob are hardy to 20 F which means it would be fine here in most years but would need help while young and in bad years. Tamarind is on supposed to go to 25 F which means it would have to be moved into a greenhouse or grown in ground inside one here. People work hard in TX to push the envelope, especially around Houston.