My mom was of the same mindset. When we moved back to my hometown in the late 70's early 80's (moved back three times! don't remember which move it was) my parents had moved to another house closer to town and I moved into the house I grew up in. They had not moved but about half their stuff...the part they used all the time. So I go looking in the buffet in the dining room and there are all the table linens, crystal, sterling silver, bath towels, etc that they got as wedding gifts in 1938! The only time I remember her using any of it was when she hosted a luncheon for my cousin's bridal attendants (I was a junior bridesmaid) when I was 7 years old. I started using the towels...
When I got married I intentionally chose things to register for that I knew I would use regularly. Maybe not everything all the time, but not things that I knew would never fit into my informal lifestyle. Got plenty of those things from family friends anyway...now when would I possibly use a sterling silver casserole cover??? I challenged myself to figure out ways to actually use it and discovered it worked quite nicely as an ice bucket when we had a party for our SS class (4-6 couples).
Quilts? I make sure whoever I give one to knows it is intended to be used. In fact I am careful to suggest that they use it for picnics or to snuggle in the car on trips. So it's made by hand, it can be repaired by hand too if it needs it!