I figured that would be A Bad Thing! I at least knew that much. :-S It's in good shape -- physically, I think it would survive hand-washing. I don't want to do it if the dyes will run. I'd like to display it -- but I don't know if I'd *use* it or not.
Also check out the International Quilt Study Center's website: http://www.quiltstudy.org/
They're currently housed in the same building as most of my textile history classes, and we've worked with some of the quilts occasionally.
They don't wash quilts. Ever. To clean them, they vacuum very carefully, with a special low-suction vacuum and through a fiberglass screen (with the edges bound so it won't catch the fabric.) A regular household vacuum can be used, but you need to keep the end of the nozzle an inch or more away from the fabric so it doesn't get sucked up against the tube.
Making sausages out of medical stockinette and quilt batting is a good idea, but I would recommend poly batting instead: polyester is archivally safer than cotton is. Cotton, as a cellulosic fiber, will decompose, giving off acids the same way paper does, just not as quickly. When preparing an exhibit, we used 100% polyester to build the forms whenever possible, and well-washed unbleached muslin when it wasn't possible.
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