My grandmother was quite a quilter. I have a half dozen of her quilts or so. Most are well used, but a few of them are in pristine condition. They've been sitting in a cedar chest (one that belonged to my mother) for decades. One is a yo-yo bedspread. One is a double wedding ring that won her grand prize at the Malheur County (Oregon) Fair many years ago. The other is a crazy quilt made from a variety of fabrics. All of her quilts were sewn by hand--both the piecing and the quilting. I truly believe that these quilts I've just listed are museum quality, which brings me to my question.
I can't bear to bring these quilts out to use them because they are too precious. I know that they would just get dirty and worn out if we were to use them. I could hang them, I suppose, but that's not really where I'm headed. So I'm thinking seriously about donating them to a museum. When I'm gone, no one will know anything about them. That's why I'm thinking about this so much. I just don't really know where to start with this.
What ideas to you have? If you were going to keep them, what would you do with them to document their history? And if you were going to donate them, what would be your first step? I could sell them to a collector, but I really just want to preserve their history. I don't care about making money from them. By the way, I am her last living descendent.