Originally Posted by thedixiedragonfly
These are rust spots from pins and others I'm sure are from handling etc. No paper spots (those are awful to try to get out).
Don't be surprised if treatment of the rust spots results in a hole. That's what happened my MIL's old quilt top. I plan to have the area around the messed up pieces scanned and printed on fabric so I can replace the bad parts.
The quilt top was in such bad shape that I ended up washing it in the tub to get about 40 years worth of crud out. Now I have a tangled mess of threads on the back and it will take more than my current patience level to deal with it. I'm thinking of taking it to the dry cleaner to have it pressed and get it in some semblance of order.