I washed the quilt in my laundry sink, soaking then rinsing, and gently spinning it out in the washer after enclosing it in a pillowcase. I let it dry outside on towels. No smell and the raveling isn't much worse than it was.
Yes, I've been thinking about this quilt and what to do with it.
I am thinking about removing the ties, taking off the backing, then rotary cutting along the seams so I won't have to pick out all the stitching. I'll lose a little fabric, but not too much. I could trim patches to the same size squares, and maybe set them with some white or other light colored (solid?) squares. Maybe a 9 patch-type layout. I know I won't be using all of the fabric--some of the pieces are smaller than others and/or too raveled.
Nothing is set in stone yet! Silly, but I am enjoying thinking about it