I think "heirloom" means a memory, something that you want to remember... a piece of the past to hold onto.... a thing of value not necessarily in dollars. I made some memory quilts from my nephew's clothes after we lost him in an accident... they are already being called "heirloom" quilts. Not because of how good of a job that I did (because I know I didn't - I actually would like to do them over again) but because of the memory they carry. I agree with Sewnoma
If one of my quilts becomes an heirloom I want it to be because someone kept it out of love, out of all the fond memories of years of picnics and couch forts, and I want all the patches and repairs to be part of that, just like MY baby & childhood quilts that I still have after all these years. That's what gives me warm fuzzies.
