I think as the friend says, it adds to the story. It certainly doesn't take anything away from structural aspects of the quilt. It is a "if you can't see it on a galloping horse" sort of thing, you really have to be looking for it to find it. And at basically 100 years old, it is in tremendous shape.
Fabrics do change over time. I accept it and sort of look forward to how a quilt changes. Some times the strong fabrics fade and the background fabrics take over. Sometimes nothing much changes. But a lot of what we think we know about Civil War fabrics is wrong, so many of what we take to be brown because that's what we see now started out as purple!
You can leave as is. You can embroider through the holes to the quilt top, maybe not go over the holes but a daisy design? Certainly should be able to get a true vintage replacement. I do still have a couple of graphic black and white scraps but I think the scale is wrong and no gingham.
The Tulle repair is already mentioned. You go to the bridal/fancy side of the shop and get a little piece of quality illusion netting. Not the stiff stuff where you see the lines, the veil stuff. It is (in my mind) going to make it more noticeable rather than less but is an option and a little iridescence on butterfly wings is reasonable.