As I read the various topics, I realize many quilters give their quilts away. Unless someone would ask me and discuss the colors they would like, I hesitate to sew items that the recipent might not like. I have a friend who lovingly made a quilt for a relative and later found it on the cement outside with oil and dirt from a car. I would not want to put all the time and money needed to sew a quilt and and come to realize the person really did not like it nor will they use it.

I am finishing a quilt for my GD and one for her sister.(They showed me with colored pictures what their favorite colors are.) Everying else I have sewed which is not a lot, I have kept.

I have to say that the relative that did that would never get another gift from me.

I would only make them for people who I know will love and appreciate them. I made one for my MIL and she loves it so much she draped it over the back of her couch ever so carefully and doesn't want to actually use it. I told her to use it-that it's washable and everything! Even gave her a box of color catchers. I have a feeling it's 'only for decoration' at her house.

But it sure makes me think about how careful I'd be to choose the recipients of my quilts.

it would be nice to know someones favorite colors..but i make them when the mood strikes me, and have someone in mind for them...usually someone who is sick or needs a pick me up..
sad a quilt would end up on the ground like that..but God honors the giving, not what happens to it after it leaves your hands, no mattern what it is.
i have a hard time with those that put the quilt up,so it won't get dirty or worn.. and no one uses it to cuddle in!

while I don't care if a quilt is used as a picnic blanket, the oil catcher would make me stop and think. I have ever so slightly asked my mom what colors she would want in a quilt for her water bed. she said that she would be too worried to use it because of the dog and two cats. at least she cares enough to want to take care of it. but I don't think that I will be making a king size quilt for her for a long time.

I think about their colors, and the style of quilts that would appeal to them, tradional? contemporary?
Also, I ask if they would even like one... I wouldn't care for some abstract art pieces that I have seen, so I don't expect everyone to like a quilt either :D:D:D

And would be shot at dawn!:hunf:
Jan in VA

I started making quilts for my sister in laws kids that were having babies left & right...Not one of them ~ 4...said thank you. Nor have I ever seen them with the quilts. So I have decided no more for them. I'll start making them for MY grandbabies to be. I did make some cute Halloween things for a really good friend and saw it out on the porch wet and covered in mud. It hurt my feelings that something I took such pleasure in making JUST for her was treated like a piece of trash. I'm very cautious..about who I give things to now.

I always ask if there is a special color combo or pattern they may like. I haven't had anyone not use the quilts I make.

If I didn't give my quilts away rather freely, they'd be so piled up I wouldn't be able to get in and out the door. I don't spend all that much time worrying about the what ifs.

I have only give away a few quilts and they were mostly for babies. I would love to know that the quilts I give are used and loved. But as an oil catcher, that would be the last one someone ever got from me.

I am making a couple quilts as a request from my DD for her inlaws. If they do or don't use them, I will be okay with it. I know I have been guilty of not using a handmade item for fear of messing it up. I am making a quilt for my sister but she requested one. I hope she will use it and let it have lots of tender loving wear, as I hope all my quilts would get.

My little grandson drags his quilts all over the house. He will get one when he is sleepy and drag it to you. He loves to be rocked to sleep with a quilt over him. Makes my heart swell up when he does that.

If I want to make a quilt for someone, I find out the colors they like. Other times, I just make a quilt because I like the pattern and want to do it. It will stay on my quilt rack until someone sees it and falls in love with it. Then I will give it to them. You can tell when someone really likes it or if they are just being kind. I don't want to make a quilt for someone to go with anything, like the bedroom or such. I just want them to use it to knock around with - take it on a picnic, or lay on the couch covered with it, that kind of thing. If I made it to go with something, they might feel obligated to use it in a place they really don't want to.

When I finish a quilt it's immediately claimed by one of my DDs or granddaughter. I keep thinking they'll have more then they need at some point.

I haven't given away too many, & am very careful who I give one to. I don't make huge bed quilts either. Mostly lap size, or smaller. That would hurt my feelings too, that, or knowing it was put away & never used. Like some have said, I would try to find out colors, likes & dislikes, or if they even like quilts. I also have said, if someone came to visit & feel in love with one of my quilts, I would probably give it to them, later as a gift,if not right then, or make them one like it. It makes me sick when people mistreat hand made treasures, no matter who made them....

Ditto, my two girls always claim the ones I'm working on!!

I keep much of what I make, but when I make a piece, I only do so with a lot of knowledge of the recipient's tastes. I also only do it if I know ahead of time that the recipient values quilts and has some understanding of the work they take to make. Of course, now that I made one for my MIL (who knows a lot about quilts but doesn't quilt herself) I have been guilted into making one for my DM, who doesn't care a hoot about quilts, but wants one because I made one for my MIL.

I would be careful who I make them for, or give them away knowing full well that the recipient may not be as grateful as we might like him or her to be. In short, give them away for you, not for the recipient's sake.

I've been pretty lucky. So far, my kids and 3 brothers have been recipients and all have been thrilled. But I have thought very hard on what I think they would like before I start. It also has to be something that appeals to me to put that much time and work into it.

I make quilts with then knowledge that the recipent may or may not like my quilt. I made one that I could not stand but my husband thought was amazing. The family that received it wrap themselves in it every night so they can feel like their son/brother is giving them a hug. I would say make a few quilts from scraps you get to make a "free" quilt that when you give it away you won't have that much of an attatchment to it. Not so say that I wont' buy new fabric but with the amount of quilts that I make and give away I have to choose to believe that the ones getting my quilts are is such a need that they cherish it more than someone who has everything they want/need and doesn't appreciate a homemade quilt.

I made my two grandchildren I Spy quilts and they loved them when I gave them to them. Later on we were visiting them and they were chilly. I said they should get out their quilts. I was told that their dad (my SIL) wouldn't let them use them. Go figure. Needless to say, he's not exactly my favorite person!!

Oh, I feel your pain! Though to a lesser degree, I am sure. I was visiting my brother and sister-in-law once and when I was using the "facilities" that were under construction I spied a handknitted flower face cloth I had gifted the previous Christmas wadded in a corner covered with dried on caulk! I'm sure it was my brother who grabbed the cloth as a "rag", but in my book they are not "worthy" of handmade items. I may reevaluate in a few years!

I don't give to random people...I'm making a quilt for my mother in law for Christmas. It's in colours I know she likes and uses in her home. I also know it will be cared for, impeccably. And loved immeasurably. Because she is that kind of woman. I won't make a large quilt (like the one for my MIL) for just anyone. I know that the quilts I give away are no longer mine and I'm not terribly bothered by what might happen to them once it's out of my hands...but I only try to make things (anything, not just quilts...I make a bunch of stuff!) for people that I don't think will appreciate or understand the work put into it.

Right on Jan!

I usually ask, or if it's a surprise gift ask a family member about colour choices before making a gift quilt. If I can, I get a look at what else they have in their house to get an idea of their taste. So far - no oil catchers.

Be careful committing yourself on color. For their 25th anniversary I made a new kingsize for DH's DB + SIL, to replace their wedding quilt which had been on the bed. I asked for color preference, and haven't been able to sew red violet or purple since then! (The previous quilt, also king, was a color challenge, 40% my least-favorite color...)
On the other hand, MIL wouldn't let the cat into the bedroom and willed the handquilted king I made to DD.

I don't worry so much that they would throw it away or not use it, but that they would feel OBLIGATED to use it when they really didn't like it. Lately I've been making stuff for ME ME ME, but I don't think I'd ever put so much time into something unless I've a) visited their home and seen not just their colors but what's "missing" from their decor or b) for a kid that's something a kid would also love, like trains or Dora or princesses or some such. Temporary use for a kid is OK with me. For newborns, I don't make the quilt until I know the nursery decor - not just the color, but the theme.

I try to choose fabrics carefully if giving something as a gift. I generally know the recipient's likes. That said I am so done making anything for my oldest DD. I made her a bag as a gift after she got engaged on the top of the Eiffel tower. I used black and white fabric with the Eiffel tower on it and searched until I found a coordinate that very closely matched the main fabric. The bag turned out beautifully but on opening it she said "I guess I can store junk in it." :?

She had said she would like a wall hanging. I was in the process of making the one in my avatar for a co-worker's wedding present. I asked if she would like one similar to it and she said it was too "old fashioned". So I went with a modern design and fabrics. She was not very excited when I gave it to her and when she was showing me around her new house I noticed it thrown in her junk closet. :( I noticed a couple of quilts displayed around the house. They were made by her new MIL.

Mostly things I have made are loved and used. Live and learn. This Christmas she gets a store bought sweater. Never again.

Oh my. Someone had a quilt under the car with oil on it? I'd be very hurt.

My DDs have my very early quilts and afghans that I learned on. They use the early (and ugly!) quilts to sit on at the beach or to put the babies on outside in the shade. And they keep my early (also ugly) afghans in the cars in case the kids get cold. All this is fine by me because they also have some of my later quilts and afghans in the house on beds, couches, etc. which they take very good care of.

I don't know if it's the luck of the draw or what. Made dresses for my niece. SIL gave them away. Made REQUESTED jacket for MIL that was given to the cleaning lady. Hoped she enjoyed it. Made baby clothes, bassinet skirt etc, for DIL, REQUESTED, which she sold at the flea market. They didn't like all that homemade stuff.

I'm not a novice sewer. I had my own dressmaking business for years and often couldn't keep up with the demand. Did I sew for them again? Never!!!!!

Most people think they are easily replaceable, like the ones you buy in the stores. They don't realize they are works of art. I offered to make my very good friend one out of love and he said, "I don't care for them". It made me realize everybody doesn't think they are so valuable. I give baby quilts freely because babies "love" their blankies but the big people quilts I keep for me and my children/ grandchildren, who KNOW how hard mom works on them. I would make one for the folks overseas and have made several for no kill animal shelters though. Even if it gets all torn up I will know it was loved. I guess it depends on the situation, but I definitely won't offer another to someone I think won't appreciate it.

I feel your pain. I made matching afgans for my brother-in-law and his wife a few years ago. I made his as an Irish chain in dark brown with cream colored blocks and her's was the opposite. They were very nice (even if I do say so myself). A year or so later I find out they their much beloved dogs use them. I do understand that they didn't ask for these quilts and they don't have appreciation for home made items and once given away, they can be used as they wish but I was very disappointed when I found out how they use them.

Other than my long-gone grandmother and great-grandmother, no one in my family is a quilter and my two sisters even dislike sewing of any kind. Between the three of us, we have eleven grandkids so over the years I have made each of them a baby quilt and a Christmas quilt. The tradition is that the Christmas quilt comes out on December 1st for one month and is then packed away until next year. They all love their quilts and know that the baby one is meant to be used well and if it wears out completely, that's OK because there will be another one down the road for them!

I do have to say that this has to be a very rude and crude person to take a gift and use it in this manner. I personally would take that as an insult. Do not get me wrong, I firmly believe that all quilts should be used. BUT NOT AS OIL RAGS!
I think I would be tempted to ask the person why they hated the quilt so much. But that is just me.

God honors the giving, not what happens to it after it leaves your hands, no mattern what it is.
Amen to that.

I gave a quilt to a family in need after a house fire.Have made full/Q size for DDs & Grkids.Made a K size for one DD with matching shams & wall hanging. All was used & appreciated.Also, Mom loved hers.

On the other hand, My Sis started out saying any color would be fine, to saying she liked shades of purple,then she doesn't like squares,then she has no place for purple...then finally saying she doesn't really like quilts.

That's ok with me....rather have an honest opinion.Of course,I have lots of purples now, LOL

I don't know if I could just stand there if I saw one of my quilts covered in oil. I do believe I would at least ask them, "Oh, I see you didn't care for the quilt I made" or something to that effect. Actually, I think they should be shot for treating a piece of art so poorly.

That person was not quilt worthy!

I tend to give them to kid charities more than family or friends. That way...I can always believe that they were appreciated and loved (at least for awhile). I've given 2 to a friend for her grandchildren. The Mother of those kids has never even acknowledged my presence in a room if we happen to meet- like she doesn't know who I am when I know good and well that she does.:roll:

I've been quilting more than 40 years and give most of my quilts away. I look at the person's home, furniture, colorways, and style, and I choose colors based on that.

The most difficult quilt I ever made was my daughter's wedding quilt. I wanted to please both of them, and they have very disparate tastes.

Her husband is a psychology professor, loves jazz, is very conservative and tailored in his furniture -- big leather sofas, classic wood, and and his wardrobe-- gorgeous muted color sweaters and button down shirts.

My daughter is an artist. Color is her passion. It was quite a difficult quilt to design. But they love it and it has been on their bed for 5 years, so I guess I got it right. They just asked if I could make them another one.

Sometimes people just don't have a clue what goes into making a quilt. That is no excuse for outright abusing a gift given in love by someone who loved this family enough to spend the money, spend the time, spend all of their talents and unselfishly giving all they had to someone who didn't appreciate what a gift they had been given. Believe me there will come a day when a friend of this family will see this quilt and be outright disgusted to see what has happened to this quilt. Maybe they will even educate this family in what a gift they had and threw out. Having said all of that I also would want you to know I don't just give my quilts away. I usually have someone who means a great deal to me say something like I would love to have a quilt like that because it's beautiful. That quilt usually leaves my home in a pillow case to live in another home who will love it too. I do make quilts for our local police department who give them to children who have had their homes destroyed. We also have another group of women who make teddy bears to go with our quilts. These quilts may not always be loved and taken care of but for a while a small child gets the warmth and comfort they need at the time.

I also agree with the writer who said: and they shall be shot at sunrise.

I keep very few of the things I make and so far they have been appreciated some to the point of me having to repair them years later. I would be upset if I found one like that but they would never get anything else from me. People still have baby quilts that I made for them. I have a nephew that just graduated as a deputy sheriff and his blanket is still around. He is 25 almost 26. Sad story but I guess once you give it away it belongs to them and they can do what they want with it but like I said never again.

The last one I made I gave to my neighbors grand baby I was not happy with it (one of thoes you rip out several times) they loved it and it hanges on the babys crib(the daughter could have any of the ones in the stores to match the decore of the room) I am glad she liked it. The D is one of the few kids to day that sends thank you notes.