When my mom died, I was the only one interested in her fabric, tools, etc., so I kept everything of value. I did share some fabric with my cousin who was very fond of her.
I've thought about what will happen with all my stuff (more fabric than I want to think about, tools, books, DVDs, patterns, etc, etc, etc). So I made it very clear to my husband and my son (our executor in my husband's absence) that the entire lot of it was to go to my cousin. I know she'll make use of it -- or share it with people who know its value.
We all should think about this in advance and make our wishes known. If you don't have someone close to you who would appreciate your things and make use of them, find a school or quilting guild nearby who could use them to make charity quilts or whatever. Don't take a chance that your precious (and valuable!!) things could end up like this poor lady's!