Quilts & Nausea

I always thought it peculiar that Billy Bob Thornton has a fear of antiques. But now I think I understand it after feeling nauseous since putting this quilt on my sofa to get a good look at it. I can't shake that nauseous feeling. There aren't many stains on it. I'm thinking it's the bug factor that is making me feel ill. Are there live bugs in it? Dead bugs? Ick. I feel like my hands have been contaminated - the sofa, too.
Maybe I can shake the feeling if I think about what I like about the quilt. It is beautiful. Fabulous fabrics and colors. Made by a relative - one of mum's aunts? I wonder what she was thinking about while she stitched it. How long it took to make. Who she made it for. Where she got the fabrics from. It's actually a patchwork of (mostly) squares and rectangles covering another quilt.

See the yellow and blue stripes under the torn floral square? That's part of the quilt underneath. It's squares of that with squares of white and squares of a white and pink. I'm sure it was a unisex child's quilt. I also like the patches with the green skirted girls

Now the question is what to do about the quilt. It's not filthy looking, but does have some dirty looking areas and a number of torn/worn areas. Research tells me sometimes dead bugs or bleeding fabrics cause stains that look like old blood or rust. Maybe a gentle shaking out will do. A very gentle shaking.

I told mum I'd like to mend it because she should use an old quilt like this, right? Not stuff it into the back of the linen closet. Some of the squares are actually disintegrating, which stinks. I was thinking maybe I could just cover them with another square of fabric. Of course, I don't want to ruin a beautiful thing. But what good is it, really, if you can't use it?

Hmm...I'm getting that gagging, nauseous feeling again. I'm afraid there are all sorts of bugses between the layers of the quilt. So gross to think of that being anywhere near food or humans.

Mend or not?

Fortune: Ugh. Too nauseous to think of/find one...