Lay a sheet in the tub first. Only lift the sheet. Wet the quilt will be heavy and be damaged. Be very gentle.

The photo of your quilt is lovely. Your lucky, I have one my mom left me and the colors are awful. Its a full size if I remember correctly and its terracotas and yellows and oranges. I have it stored in my closet. Often think about sellinging it but I keep hopeing one day one of my daughters will want it..... I doubt it lol

You've really got a treasure here! The fabrics look like the feed-sack prints of the 30's, a lot of which are very popular reproduction fabrics of today.

Sounds like this one might have been made in the early 60's. I loved those awful colors back then, even the avocado kitchen appliances.

A friend of mine has yo-yo quilt identical to that one only yellow and blue. She asked me to repair it for her. She didn't care for it and didn't know who made it so I took a chance and after repairing the yo-yos, I washed it in my machine in warm water, regular laundry soap and the slowest agitation cycle possible. Then I put it in the dryer on gentle heat. When it came out I repaired some more that had come apart, turned it over and sort of ironed the back of the yo-yos and it is gorgeous! I know I did everything wrong but it turned out so pretty. I wouldn't reccommend this but she didn't care about it so I felt I could experiment. Can't wait to give it to her.

Wow! I'm not going to be that brave with mine...haha! I hope your friend liked it when she got it back. I remember not caring much for this one when I first saw it, but now I love it! Maybe it's the recognition of the work and love that went into it that makes a difference.

How did your yo yo quilt turn out ? I just brought a very similar quilt from our attic. It's in the same condition as the one described here. The fabric is in great shape, it's the threads that have deteriorated. It was made by my great grandmother.
I know this thread is a few years old, but it was one of the best discussions I've found in researching restoring vintage yo yo quilts. I really like the fabrics in mine and it is one of very few family treasures.

This is a wonderful find. Thanks for showing us. What alot of work someone did. Wow

I bought one several yrs ago at a flea market...all white. And it too had some that had undone and a few were missing.....so I repaired , filled in the blanks and washed by hand in the sink with Dawn dish soap...let dry naturally....and came out beautifully. I like to put it on a bed with a colored flat sheet under it ...but now with the wide backing fabs in many lush colors...more choices....so fix, clean, and enjoy it....