Barbara "Nana" thanks for sharing your beautiful memories with us. I too remember many of the same things. It was especially exciting when the Sears Roebuck catalog came, days and days of looking and wishing. I still have the lap quilt my Grandmother made me in the 60's it will never fall apart thanks to polyester :D also have the cotton one she gave my mother which is now mine. It is worn and loved the material is starting to come apart. We seem to live in a disposable time where people get rid of things becasue the color is no longer in style. Where it cost more to repair something than to buy a new one. So sad :( My project for last year was to make lap quilts for my 6 cousins in loveing memory of our Grandmother. Goal was accomplished and it made me feel good. I am sure it was more important to me than to my cousins gauged on their varying degree of responses. But it was important to me and doesn't lesson the time I spent making them and the memories it brought back to me of time with Grandma. I won't be making any other quilts for that particular qroup of people.lol. I think making quilts for unknown people like womens shelters ect. is best. You don't expect a thank you and I am sure they are appreciated but if not we don't know that. :-)
As with many things, no ... non quilters don't have a clue, as with anything that a person doesn't make themseves, woodworking, jewelry making, glass blowing ect. Who knows maybe a hundred years from now some of our quilts will be treasured by someone that has no ties to our families at all. I volunteered at a historical home and it had a crazy quilt on a cot in a childs room that was made while the civil war was going on and tours of children groups could actually lightly touch something that old that was a piece of history. They were just amazed and it was so wonderful to see and hear their excited expressions of aw.