I'm so glad you posted a picture of your BEAUTIFUL quilt, and told the story behind it. Your assortment of fabrics is wonderful, and I especially love that luscious cream color of the background. You say you aren't in the US, would love to know where you do live. And I agree with Prism that I see no advantage in washing in a tub rather than a washing machine, if you avoid the agitating cycle. There are real advantages to letting the machine take as much water out of the quilt as possible, and I believe the machine also does a better job of rinsing since most of the soapy water is spun out before the rinse water is added. It's much harder to do that in a tub.