I love your quilt!!!
But I have mixed feelings about it.
On one hand, I am sure there is a museum out there that would love to have your family quilt in their collection, especially if it is indeed from the mid 1800's and can be "verified". Or cherished by future family members as having been done by an ancestor.
But then I think of all the hours spent putting that quilt together with the thought that it would keep the family warm on cold nights. And then you posted your picture of it being used for just that purpose and I literally got goose bumps and then a warm glow in my heart.
Preserve it or use it, only you can decide.