Quilt Emergency!

For a long time I've been a little smug about my cats and my antique quilts.  When folks warn about having animals near vintage textiles I would smile and tell them I have never had a problem with the two.  (my husband is a whole 'nother story...someday ask me about a turn of the century Ocean waves and Diet cherry Dr. Pepper....)

Goldie on a circa 1870  log cabin....

Well it has all finally come back to haunt me.

Dobby on a stack of quilt tops (only vintage as in I made them more than a decade ago!)

The cats are a bit freaked right now.  I've been ill so not doing all my pet owner duties normally, the coyotes are back in the neighborhood and their calls unnerve all of us, and add to that the workman around the house.  So to top it off yesterday we began the final move out of the sewing-room.  To do this the antique quilts that were hanging in the hallway had to come down...I thought they would be safer that way!  Duh!

Let's just say Dobby or Goldie made their point known.  So most of last night and this morning I've been stressing about washing this quilt.  First time it has ever been washed.

Couple of reasons this hasn't been washed before...The red fabric is circa 1880 and the black "dots" are ink that has eaten through the fabric in spots.  Washing would take away the ink in many areas and could cause the batting to come through the dots.  I was/am also concerned about the green.  Green from this time period can wash out (and of all the colors this is the one that seems to have run onto the back...the quilt isn't dry yet so we'll see if it dries light....)


So guess I'm counting no the luck of the Irish today....