thepolyparrot

You have some awesome treasures, there! How much fun you are going to have, quilting these - and I'll bet the piecer is going to be so happy with your collaboration!

I know this is late advice, but to preserve the integrity of the quilts and avoid a mass of frayed threads on the back, you shouldn't wash a quilt top that hasn't been quilted yet. It could be that you already know this, and have washed them by soaking, so I'm putting the info here for the benefit of "newbies" who find this thread when they go in search of info about how to take care of old quilt tops.

One lady brought me a bunch of quilt tops that stank so bad, they actually made me feel nauseous. I don't know what she had in her house - that was some really awful stink in there.

I aired them as best I could and sprayed them with Febreze and then quilted them - stink and all. I was very happy to get them into the washing machine when they were done, believe me.

You can wash them by soaking them in the bathtub if you absolutely have to - use a sheet to hold the quilt top and don't pick up the quilt itself while it's heavy with water. Just let it drain, squeeze out the excess water, fill the tub to rinse and drain a few times, then take it outside and lay it in the shade to finish draining and drying. Keep it out of direct sunlight or fluorescent lighting. This soaking method is a lot of work, but it avoids a lot of the fraying you'd get in the washer.

If you have some with stubborn odors, after you've quilted it and bound the edges, launder the quilt and add a half-cup or so of non-sudsing ammonia to the wash water. As awful as ammonia smells, it pulls absolutely every odor out of fabric - it's especially good for oily stains and smells, like stale cigarette smoke, and for pet urine/marking smells. I know it sounds weird, but your quilt will be so fresh and clean when it's done, you won't believe it.

mwhite

I thought I would add a quick note about how I washed these. I have a couple of those big tubs with the rope handles so they are easier to move around. I put them in the tub instead of washing the quilts in the bathtub itself, I was worried about any soap that might be in the bathtub. I soaked the quilt tops with oxyclean and Dreft, only moved them around a little with my hands. Then instead of picking them up I dumped the tub over with out spilling the quilt top out. I rinsed out the top the same way. Then I used towels to get the extra water out of the top. Then I hung the tops up over towels after they drained. I have two shower rods so I dont have to hang the tops outside in the wind or sun.
I have to be somewhat careful about chemicals so I didn't want to use any thing extra on them. That and the smell of them made me have to wash them before I could use them for anything.

ptquilting-yep I ment pieced! opps