how would you quilt.......
 

I have been ask to quilt my friends lap quilts (she has passed away, her daughter and I are close) they are older, one is the little dutch girl. I feel like these need to be hand quilted or tacked, but the daughter wants them machine quilted. My question, Do I machine quilt over the applique or go around it.I have only quilted one top that was appliqued and I went around it. So what would you do?

I too would go around the applique. Just make certain it's okay to quilt far apart in the batting you choose. Tartan has the right idea to find some way to tack thru the center to avoid wrinkling.

This is what I do too, as well as quilting in the background so the applique will stand out.

Thank you all, for the advise....

My friend just took two old appliqued quilts to an appraiser. The appraiser told her that the one that had the quilting running right through the appliqued pieces was much more valuable than the ones that are just quilted around the applique. I have always quilted around the applique but may change my method since I heard that!

Thank you for the info.This is interesting.

Did the appraiser give a reason for this? I'd be interested, because it seems odd to me.