Hon I would just give it to her , for it is a Beautiful Quilt and I can just bet she'll love it so much. :D

Not so bad.....can a good ironing make it better???

Hi, I hope this is helpful. I have made many quilts over the years for Display Homes and Art Unions. They all tend to flatten when they are on the bed. Most that I made had to have four inch thick tontine to pad them and even these would flatten. Some were made from very expensive silk and were screen printed. One quilt had a huge bird of paradise in the middle and just the quilting alone took me four days. How about placing your beautifully made quilt for your MIL on your bed for a week to let it rest. Best of luck with this. Cheers Gleniveve

It looks like you have had a lot of suggetions already. I didn't read them all. I did see someone suggested to iron it. What about putting it back in the washer on cold water and letting it "hang dry", then iron it. I really didn't see where it looked bad, it just looks like it has been washed. The shrinking gives it an antique look. You might tell her that you washed it to give it an antique look. She is going to be proud of it even if you give it to her like it is. I think it looks great. I DEFINITELY would not take out the quilting. Just relax. (try to) LOL

I think your quilt is lovely. Quilts are supposed to be cozy looking. And if that doesn't convince you. My MIL says that when the pie is a little burned, you can tell it's home made.
It really is beautiful.

I think it looks great - the little amount of shrinkage makes it look cozy.

use a steam iron and press it...you can pull as you go if you need to but I am sure it will be fine...

I think this is your best option - let us know if it works

i like the look of a washed quilt to me it gives it a lovely look

HI,
Before you give up, try wetting the quilt and letting it dry on its on.
See if you can figure out a way to gently stretch the edges as it drives. I am thinking a long arm quilter could tell you how to do that.
Be thankful that you washed it and had the "slighter smaller" experience. Image if that happened to the person that you gave it too. I have washed a lot of things that got smaller and just wet them again and do a little stretching. Beautiful quilt. Just shows all of us that life is not perfect and we aren't either.
Dianne