washing your quilt does not make it (used) it makes it finished.
i am so ... stern? about this mainly because of a situation that happened between 2 of my very good friends- a mother-in law- & daugter in law-
the mil gave said dil a beautiful quilt for christmas one year--
the dil loved it with all her heart and showed it off-boasted about it to everyone---then the day came it needed to be laundered- she even called mil to ask how to go about it- the reply was- i made it to be used- put it in the washer-cool water/detergent- toss it in the dryer- it will be fine-
dil did just that- even used a gentle cycle- mil did not stipulate.
when the quilt came out of the dryer a whole large section had come undone- it was unsightly-frayed- a mess...she called me just sobbing- i went over & looked at it- it looked as if during construction a whole seam was missed...i told her she needed to call mil & tell her what happened- it could be fixed-
OH NO--she was afraid mil would hate her for ruining the quilt---instead she chose to just hide it away-
after that for months-everytime mil visited she would leave---angry (thinking dil just gave it away or something) neither would speak to each other about it---it caused 2 whole years of strife between them---i finally could not take being in the middle any more---and told mil what happened-
she felt so bad for all the HORRIBLE things she had been thinking -and saying about dil for 2 years---
she went to her very (humbled) apologized- retrieved the
quilt- repaired it and it is now proudly used again---but 2 years of horrible hurt feelings for something that would have been avoided if she had just washed it first...
and where was son during all this? deployed...more stress- since mil was so...nasty toward dil when she was needed most. and what took me so long? i tried to be supportive to both without overstepping ... we all learned some lessons.
but now- unless it's a wall hanging not meant to ever be washed- it does not go anywhere until i've washed?dried it first!