What a lovely story for this quilt. A real treasure! I concur with the idea that hand quilting is in order for the finishing of a vintage piece and how neat that the crosshatching is already there. What a coincidence. I have no experience with front loading washing machines but I use my top loader instead of the bathtub. Can fill and stop it, push the quilt around just as in a tub but then it's a lot easier to drain and let the machine spin out the extra water. I would guess that crocheted lace is going to pull up so would be better to launder separately and then hand stitch it. Because of the significance and age of the quilt, surely it will be protected and not need frequent laundering--if ever.