My husbands Grandmother was a prolific hand quilter. By the time my mother-in-law married into the family all of her quilts had been given to the woman previously married to her new husband. She was given a hand pieced quilt top and told if you want it to be a quilt you can do it yourself. It sat in her cabinet for 40 years, then I got it and it sat in mine for 30 years! I finally took it to a quilt shop and had it made into a quilt. I learned to hand sew the binding and finished it. Then I started to quilt myself. I can't believe how the flimsy held up, I threw it in the washer and dryer with no detrimental effects. That flour sack fabric was pretty tuff! I guess the top to be at least 100 years old at this point, it is a version of log cabin and quite beautiful. Now that I am a quilter, I know that washing the way I did was crazy! I was lucky not to ruin it. We display it on a rack and vacuum when needed, I guess it will get washed again someday when our daughter gets it. We call it Lizzie's quilt after the grandmother.