help me flist-wan kenobi: vintage quilt question

[coraa]

I know a number of you are knowledgeable at fabrics, fabric preservation, and textile history, so I pose this question to you:

One of my wedding presents, from my mother's parents, was a vintage crazy quilt. This quilt was made in 1887 by my great-great-grandmother: it's a beautiful crazy quilt, decorated with embroidery. (Among the embroidered flowers, leaves, butterflies, and abstract patterns, there are a cross, a Star of David, and a crescent moon and star. I guess great-great-grandmother Anne Eliza was an early multiculturalist, or something! Or, well, she copied the patterns from somewhere—still.) I am very honored and very lucky, of course, that my grandmother chose to give it to me, and it's very important to me both as a piece of family history and as a beautiful old quilt.

Anyway. The quilt is in excellent condition, apart from some small sections of shattered silk (which I understand is pretty common for silk of the period). It's not badly faded or falling-apart fragile, and can be gently handled. It's also very clean, so I don't need to worry about that.

I would like to keep it in that condition! (Ideally, I'll be able to pass this on to my own children/grandchildren.) So that's my first question: what should I do to keep this quilt in good condition? I'm going to assume that protection from humidity, UV and moths are high up there on the List of Things to Pay Attention To, but I'm no expert.

Second: if possible to do so without badly damaging the quilt, I'd love to be able to display it. I was thinking of displaying it on the wall in the bedroom, which is a fairly dim room to begin with (it's positioned such that it gets almost no direct sunlight) and which has a section of wall that's high enough up that it would be safe from cats. This is secondary because, if displaying it in a way that will protect it is beyond my budget (for instance, if I'd need to get it framed with UV-protective glass, which I imagine would cost a pretty penny), I'll store it in a way that protects it less expensively for now, and save up for the display in the future.

I am more than willing to do research of my own—I just know nothing about the subject and don't know how to start. Pointers to resources are more than welcome! (And if the answer is 'take it to an expert,' then help figuring out how to find a reputable expert would also be welcome.)

I'll take pictures of the quilt to show later (I want to get it in natural light), but I wanted to get the ball rolling on figuring out the best way to preserve it now.

Comments

[daedala]

It's very hard to say without a picture; the density of the quilting is one of the major factors. (Um, quilting = the stitching that goes all the way through the top, middle, and backing; the more there is, the more stable the quilt should be. I don't mean the seams in the patchwork! I'm sorry if this is something you already know. I've done regular quilting but not crazy quilting.)

One thing to do is look at the fragile parts. Is the stitching (patchwork seams or quilting) tearing through the fabric, or is the stitching breaking? Are holes in the fabric along stitching lines, or elsewhere? Basically, if the stitching threads are cutting/tearing the fabric (which is more common with synthetic thread/natural fiber fabric, but may be an issue with older stuff as well), hanging it will just exacerbate that process.

If the thread isn't cutting through the fabric, then hanging might be ok. The safest way to hang it is to stitch a sleeve across the back and use a rod to support it across the entire width (instead of just a couple of clips). I've seen some sources that recommend only hanging it for six months at a time. I'm guessing that's due to weight, and I wonder if you put sleeves at both the top and the bottom, and rotated it, it would be ok? But I don't know.

Don't wash ever, if you can avoid it. Vacuum gently to clean it. Sadly Roombas are not advised. Dyes may no longer be stable, etc; if you need to spot clean, there's something called Orvus Paste that everyone recommends as supergentle, but be careful as you may end up with random extra-clean spots.

This page looks authoritative. So does this site.

[tedeisenstein.livejournal.com]

A website devoted to quilt preservation and presentation (http://museum.msu.edu/glqc/quiltcare.html).

Judging by what they say, I feel safe in suggesting that old quilts should be stored like the old manuscripts I have: no direct sunlight at all, in acid-free containers, and where critters (cats, dogs, mice, rats, cockroaches....) can't get at them. If you want to show them off, again, no direct sunlight (that UV is a killer).

But the primary thing to do is: don't do anything that can't be undone. No superglueing it to a display rod, don't fold it and iron the folds, don't use an industrial sewing machine and acryllic thread to sew up any holes. You know, sensible stuff.

I would also presume that going to your local quilting club (surely there must be at least a couple in Seattle) and asking the older members would be of some help.

If all else fails, I know a couple of people who do research into old (as in, old old, as in, medieval and Renaissance old) textiles and fabrics; I'm reasonably sure they'd be willing to add some pointers, if asked nicely.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

This is all good to know, thank you!

The place where I'd like to display it never gets direct sunlight (the angle of the room is such that what light does come through the window never falls on that wall), so it looks like I have some leeway in being able to display there.

While I figure out display, it looks like wrapping in acid-free paper and storing in a ventilated box in the cat-free closet will keep it from deteriorating while I plan long-term display.

[maggiedacatt.livejournal.com]

I notice all those display methods involve sewing it. I would think something simpler like mounting a curtain rod and folding the quilt over it might be more in order for a family heirloom.

I wonder if you could find or make some kind of contraption that holds it up by squeezing the entire top couple of inches between two felted pieces of wood (like how wooden pants hangers work).

[coraa.livejournal.com]

That's an excellent point. I would really, really rather not modify the quilt itself in any way.

More to consider, thank you!

[tedeisenstein.livejournal.com]

Acid-free paper, check. Cat-free closet, check.

...don't forget the box should also be acid-free. And be sure there aren't any cockroaches or mice. Mothballs should do.

[tedeisenstein.livejournal.com]

nonononono. No squeezing. Compressing the fibers of the quilt is not a good idea.

[faithhopetricks.livejournal.com]

You know, I know diddly squat about fabrics much less preserving them, but -- I bet some local museums have had fabric and even quilt exhibits, right? Maybe if you got in touch with them, they'd have ideas about how to display and preserve it. I know SAAM has some absolutely gorgeous fabric exhibits, frex.

And there's this place: http://www.laconnerquilts.com/

Also it sounds gorgeous! What a beautiful present.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's a good idea. Thank you!

[faithhopetricks.livejournal.com]

Ha, this is pretty hilarious: 'Chose a method of display that distributes the weight of the quilt over the entire quilt such as an unused bed. This assumes you don't have any cats. Cats are notorious for finding the only antique quilt in the house on which to sleep.' http://www.quilthistory.com/repair.htm

[aliseadae]

I wouldn't keep it folded for long periods of time to avoid it weakening at that particular point.

Acid-free can be hard to find/expensive but acid free boxes are produced. Yah, avoid sunlight, cats.

Try to choose a room that has a pretty constant humidity and temperature.

[artemisgrey.livejournal.com]

Because of al the hand stitching I think you'll have to lie it flat for display and no direct sunlight. As for storage everyones right with the acid free paper/container. No folding. Rather it should be rolled so that no creases are made. And if you store it I think it's supposed to be taken out at least once a year to air. I'm no expert though, I've just noodled

[artemisgrey.livejournal.com]

Seriously lj? Too early for these shenanigans! As I was saying, I've just nosed for info here and there. I can't wait to see pictures!!! Crazy quilts are probably my favorite textile art because there are so many stories within them. :)

[eepmirva.livejournal.com]

That sounds SO pretty - would love to see pictures!

I know nothing about vintage quilts, but I do have a few quilts that my mom has made me over my lifetime. And I've learned the hard way that just folding them up and putting them in the closet does weird things to the fibers within the quilt! So I try to keep them on a bed as much as possible, and just throw other blankets over them to keep cat hair and vomit off of them! So I would assume storing it flat somehow is the best thing to do... Though it sounds like you have friends with an even better idea about what they are talking about! :o)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Pulling from my fifteen-year-ago museum studies classes: the reasons for sewing backings to fabric is to spread the strain of the weight over a larger area instead of concentrating it on one spot.

That being said: you're not a museum and probably don't want to go to *that* much effort. :) I'd store it horizontally, rolled with acid-free tissue on an acid-free tube (and change the tissue yearly, and the tube every few years, as they absorb acids and lose their acid-free quality).

If you don't have the room to store a tube horizontally, or can't get your hands on a tube, fold it gently, lightly crushing acid-free paper into loose wads, and stuff the folds with the wads so they're not sharp, but rounded. Layer more tissue between the quilt layers so that the quilt is not touching itself, and put it into an acid-free box. (And still change the tissue yearly, and the box a bit less often - check it periodically, and if you see discoloration on the tissue or box, it's time to change!)

For display, assuming you don't want to go to the trouble of any of the backings to hang it, I'd think the idea of draping it over a long dowel of sufficient width to distribute the weight so it's not all concentrated in one thin area (and periodically moving/rotating the quilt to move the weight around) should be sufficient, although someone with more recent knowledge than I might know better.

The site linked above says textiles should be vacuumed periodically to remove dirt: yes, but NOT straight! You could destroy or damage fibers that way. If you can get your hands on a low-power vacuum like a Dustbuster, then wrap a couple of layers of gauze around the mouth of it and secure with a rubber band, that's more the style of vacuum you should use for old textiles. If it's especially fragile, or if your Dustbuster is still too powerful, don't apply the vacuum directly to the textile, instead get a wide, soft paintbrush, hold the gauze-wrapped vacuum parallel to the surface, and brush the fabric gently with the brush towards the mouth of the vacuum so that any dust and dirt you dislodge will be sucked up. You'll probably need to move the gauze around as it gets soiled. :)

And I know all that about the vacuum because I VERY CAREFULLY avoided a project at a museum I worked at while in school, which was to clean and re-store their huge textile collection and OH DEAR GOD I did not want to do all that careful brushing and vacuuming after the process was explained to me (and they had a special vacuum with a very low suck rate and a very tiny mouth to use). I stuck with the catalog database instead.

ETA: I'm leery of mothballs nearby because of the gasses they put out. I have no *reason* to know if they're harmful to objects, and someone who knows the chemistry might be able to confirm they're OK, but when I worked at a long=neglected museum in South Dakota, my coworker and I got rid of all the mothballs and left the cabinets open to aerate, because we were suspicious of the odors.

[jennifergale.livejournal.com]

SAM has a gorgeous display not of quilts, but of certain Japanese textiles (which, naturally, features plenty of well-preserved silk). They display the pieces on an incline - no sewing involved, but. Er. Pretty sure that's not a helpful option.

I imagine that any sort of draping with a textile that old will be tough on the fibers. Quilts are such heavy bastards...