I have not read through all the responses but wanted to mention that I was told that a quilt is dated by the last work that was done on it, so that means that while this quilt is an antique now (or close to it) once you add fabric and have it quilted it will not be anymore. It will be considered a 2016 quilt. It was a quilt shop owner that said this when she was having a "quilt show" of antique quilts in her store. I have never researched to see if what she says is correct or not, just wanted to share.
I think the quilt is lovely and vote w/the others to have it hand quilted if you decide to do that.