Cover Stories Worth Preserving

Quilts often are called functional art. You can wrap up in them on a cold winter night, display them on your walls and, if you're lucky, learn the secrets they carry. Handling quilts, whether old or new, can lead to their untimely death, whereas storing them properly can add hundreds of years of life. But what good is an object if you never see it or use it?

On Display

Location, location, location! All light, artificial or real, causes light damage. Even when not in bright light, quilts will fade. To minimize damage, pick a place to display them that is not in direct sunlight.

Joan Knight, director of the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg, Va., recommends displaying a quilt on a guest room bed. You can close the curtains, and the bed offers needed support for the quilt. Quilt racks are also a good choice as long as you remember to take the quilt down at least every six months and refold it in a different way so that creases don't settle and the fabric doesn't fade unevenly.

Never use tacks, staples or nails to hang a quilt. These leave holes and distribute the weight unevenly, causing the quilt to become misshapen over time. To hang a quilt on the wall, sew a sleeve onto the back of the quilt to hold a support rod. You can find directions at http://www.wvculture.org/museum/quiltconserv.html .

Museums often use a hook-and-loop system that evenly distributes the weight of the quilt so that the fabric is not being pulled in any one direction. This is a very exacting method and time-consuming, but it also is the best way to preserve a quilt that is being displayed. Instructions for this method, along with diagrams, can be found in the book "Saving Stuff: How to Care for and Preserve Your Collectibles, Heirlooms, and Other Prized Possessions."

Cleaning

"Never take a quilt to the dry cleaner," says Knight. "Usually a good dusting is enough to brighten a quilt." To dust, take fiberglass window screening, available for a dollar or two at your local hardware store, and cover the edges with masking tape to avoid snags (do not use duct tape because the residue is too sticky and the adhesive might get on the quilt). Place the screen over the quilt and vacuum through the screen, section by section, with a handheld vacuum attachment. If vacuuming doesn't do the trick, schedule an appointment with the Virginia Quilt Museum's experts (540-433-3818); they will tell you how best to wash your quilt, depending on its fabric and age.

If it is a vintage quilt and needs extra care, they may direct you to a textile conservator in your area. Also, if you think you have an extremely valuable quilt or just want to know more about it, call the museum for an appointment. Their Web site is http://www.vaquiltmuseum.org/ .

Oh, the Smell

You can remove the smells from quilts without damaging the textile. Tie your quilt inside a cotton or muslin pillowcase. Put the pillowcase together with some cheap charcoal (the kind not covered in paraffin) into an airtight plastic tub or bag (never let charcoal touch the quilt). I recommend Rubbermaid tubs; they use good plastics that will not harm your quilt.

Leave the quilt for two weeks and check. Replace the charcoal as needed. Depending on the smell, it can take a month or two for the process to be fully effective. Caution: The quilt must be completely dry when you put it into the airtight tub.

Repairs

"Don't do anything to your quilt that cannot be undone," says Knight. If a piece of the quilt is torn, do not remove and replace.

Instead, cover with a new piece of material by basting fabric over the torn area. This way you haven't destroyed the original quilt and have maintained its integrity. Repairing a quilt often means destroying its value.

Storage

Method One: Store the quilt in an acid-free box, making sure to stuff out the folds (so there are no creases) with acid-free tissue. If you do not have an acid-free box, you can place your stuffed-out quilt inside a large cotton or muslin pillowcase.

Method Two: Roll the quilt around an acid-free cardboard tube. Be sure to choose a tube that is slightly longer than the quilt. Then cover the quilt with a clean cotton or muslin sheet. This method keeps the quilt from creasing and keeps it out of the light. Store in a dry area.

One old wives' tale suggests cedar chests as an excellent place to store quilts. Not so. Cedar does not prevent bugs, rodents or moths from attacking quilts. And worse, cedar wood can actually stain your quilt. Line cedar chests with clean cotton or muslin sheeting before placing quilts inside.

Saving the Story

Quilters often weave the fabrics of their lives into their quilts. Save their stories by writing on a piece of muslin (using permanent ink that will not stain when wet) and baste it to the back, saying who made it and when, and any other important information (never write on muslin that is already attached). Remember to ask for the story before the generation that knows the history of the quilt is gone.

The book "The Quilts of Gee's Bend" highlights the creations of a group of African American women from Gee's Bend, Ala., most of them descendants of slaves. What makes the book so powerful are the narratives that not only explain the quilts but introduce the quiltmakers. My favorite story is of a quilter, Missouri Pettway, whose husband had died. She told her daughter Arlonzia that she was going to make a quilt out of all his old work clothes so that she could "cover up under it for love."

Without the story, the quilt is a work of art without a soul.

Writer and collector Louisa Jaggar is the co-author of "Saving Stuff: How to Care for and Preserve Your Collectibles, Heirlooms, and Other Prized Possessions," written with Smithsonian senior conservator Don Williams (Fireside Press, 2005). If you have questions about caring for your stuff, e-mail her atlouisajaggar@aol.com.