Questions about Vintage quilts
 

I have a few questions about some vintage quilts. I have two that I just received from my mother.

One has some rust stains and is ripped in a few areas. Is there any way for me to get the stains out without hurting the quilt and is there some way to fix the rips?

The other quilt is still in good shape and I'd like to keep it that way. I'd like to know how to maybe display it somewhere.

Any help would be wonderful.

There's a dry powder that is added to warm water that is good for vintage quilts. I used it on several and had good results. Maybe someone has the name of it...Eleanor Burns showed it on one of her programs. Right now, I'm not at home so don't have access to the name.

No suggestions about the rips.
Good luck and enjoy those wonderful quilts.

The powder coopah is thing of is Retro Clean. It is wonderful stuff. I've used it many times.

Post a picture of the quilt needing repairs. Someone will have a brilliant suggestion.

Can't help you with the stains, sorry. I have some quilts that my Grandmas left me, one that my Grandma left me that was made by my Great Grandma. I have them in a cabinet with glass front in my living room. They are not in direct sunlight and I take them out & refold them from time to time. I want to be able to enjoy seeing those gorgeous quilts. Good luck finding a product that works and enjoy them. PS - My mom gave me a quilt made for her by her grandma and it was used like a bed quilt - so terribly worn but she couldn't part with it. She gave it to me to use maybe as a cutter quilt but I haven't been able to do that just yet. I had a couple of quilts given to me over my years as a girl from my Grandma same thing - didn't think about the hard work , just used them like a blanket! Whoa is me on that mistake! Anyway, good luck to you!

We only have the two left one was made for my great grandmother when she was a very young child by an aunt and that is the one is the one that is torn it isn't a very large area but I want to see if it is something I can fix I'm going to try and pull it out later in the day so I can take a picture of the area that is torn.

The rust colored stains might actually be acid stains from long contact with unsealed wood (e.g., closet shelf, cedar chest, etc). Quilts are much more apt to have been stored on wood than on metal and the stain colors are very similar. Just a thought.

I don't know about cleaning, but I just patched a quilt for my niece. This quilt was made by her great grandma and their dog got ahold of it. I posted here and got a lot of great suggestions. What I ended up doing was making a patch and with appliqued flowers. The rip on the front was at lest 12" and probably 5" wide. I would put a picture but I didn't take one when I was done. Good luck

I have heard a product called Whink will get out rust stains, although I have never tried it.