Exactly, you really did hit the "JACKPOT"!!!!

20 mule team borax (borateam). I soaked some old smoke-browned table linens including a crocheted tablecloth, and they came out beautifully. The tablecloth was as brown as tobacco before soaking. Turns out the thread was actually a pale ivory color. The white embroidered pieces returned to their original white. There was a small tear in one piece and it did not get any worse from the soaking, nor was any of the fabric harmed by the borax. I just saw a big box of it in Walmart on the laundry soap aisle.

ShirlinAZ I have some of that and will try it. How long did you soak for?

I like Grandmas stain remover..You can buy it in most quilt shops.

Just be careful what you ultimately use. Some of the products mentioned here are safe for some applications but not others. In particular, you want to be sure to use something that is color-safe. A chemical that works great to make white linens whiter may also bleach out colors. Also, a product which is "safe" for an hour may cause color loss in cotton fabric if soaked overnight. A product which takes out a stain may also weaken the fibers. I would strongly advise thoroughly researching on the internet before deciding to use any particular product on a finished quilt.

Even the sun is not necessarily safe, even though it is natural. Colors in cotton fabrics fade with exposure to light, including sunlight. Colorfastness in fabrics is "tested" by how many hours it can tolerate exposure to light without visible fading. For most fabrics, I think it's only 75 hours. If you want a quilt's colors to last for a generation or more, you want to limit exposure to light -- including direct sunlight and indirect sunlight. Even indoor lighting causes fading, although much more gradually. While some fading is normal "patina" -- as in vintage quilts in which the colors have faded slowly over time -- there is no need to rush the process by producing several years of fading in a single day.

Good advice Prism99

It's a beautiful quilt. Are the cuts in the front or the backing? If they're in the backing you can appliqué a patch over them to protect the quilt from further damage. You can also do that on the front of a quilt using a fine organdy if you're good at appliqué. I saw a restored quilt and that's what they used on a damaged portion. It was hardly noticeable. Good luck.

It's been a long time since I did it, but it seems like the cottons only took about an hour. The tablecloth got several repeated treatments for probably 8-10 hours total. I would recommend trying a small spot treatment, maybe on an edge where you can easily rinse it after about 30 minutes. You can always repeat the treatment until you are happy with the results. My MIL said she had soaked years of dry cleaning fluid and nicotine out of drapes and other items by soaking them overnight in the bathtub, then rinsing them the same way. Her MIL liked to dry clean everything and the chemicals really build up on the fabrics.