How many of your quilts do you keep?
 

I know I may be the odd one in the bunch here , as I don't keep any of the quilts I make. ( I may be keeping one I receintly made) I am wondering after seeing so many fabulous quilts posted here , how many end up in someone elses home? Would you say 50 percent of what you make lives somewhere else? Whats you number ... what is the percentage of completed quilts you make that are given away?

So far the only ones I have kept are ones I have made in a class. I keep them because they are my reminders of how to do something or sometimes how not to do it. LOL but that needs to end soon, My DH says our bed needs one.

Out of all mine I only have one, a lap quilt I made just for myself for when it is chilly and my RA act's up. All the rest have found homes with children, grand children or friends. When I make one and someone falls in love with it, it goes home with them. No you are not the odd one, I am right there with you.

I give 75% of the quilts I make to charity. Most go to Project Linus. I have made quilts for myself and have plenty, as do my family and friends, so I'm concentrating on charity quilts.

I made quilts only to give away to family and friends and for charity and did not keep any. But...now I have kept three, two queen size and a lap size. Folks would ask to see the quilts I made and all I had to show was photographs and the comments were always the same,"you make quilts yet you do not have one on your own bed." I have a civil war design and a 4 patch posy and a dp4 patch. I may keep one or two more in the future, but the rest goes to others and that gives me (and you) a great deal of joy.

Most of mine go off to live other places. I do have a plan to do bed runners though - get a neutral solid comforter for our bed then make runners. I have a book that has patterns for 10 runners - not seasonal, but may use the patterns there and seasonal prints/colors. Neutral curtains. I can see it, but don't know when I'll do it. I think that would be a good way to practice my skills at FMQ without worrying about where the project would end up.

I have a cheery cherry quilt I just love - kept it, making one as a table clothe for kitchen table - I work on the blocks when I'm in between other things, plan to finish my Farmer's Wife Sampler at a retreat in June - will keep that one, but of the 50+ quilts I've made - that's it for me!

CraftyPat - I'm with you. When I finish one that doesn't already have a home I put it on the back of one of two rockers in my living room. If someone seems taken with it - it's theirs! Love that!

I've made 10 since mid October. We have 1 in the house as I made it for our dd. I want to make a couple for our home, but that hasn't happened yet.

I have always slept under a quilt. Once the grandmother-made quilts were worn out, the first one I made was for my own bed. I only have time to make one large quilt a year, if I'm lucky. After I made a few gift quilts for family, I now need another new quilt for my bed! Lesson learned: don't waste time on complicated quilts that get heavy use.

I would love to have a rotating supply of quilts for each bed in our house. Maybe when I retire I'll have time for that and more gift and charity quilts.

I don't have any quilts I made -- I do have some table runners, though. I keep promising myself that I will keep one but they all seem to go to other homes.

I'm on my 21st quilt and I've kept 4. 1 queen, 1 king (finally one for our bed), and 2 lap quilts. I kept my first one because I didn't feel like it was good enough to gift and another lap size didn't fit the personality of the receiver, so I made her a second one and kept it for myself. I love gifting quilts and have many more to go before all the special people in my life each have at least one : )

I have a quilt right now sitting in my room, that I made to keep..It is still folded on a chair as I actually feel guilty about keeping it!! I have made numerous quilts and all were given as gifts...I have an ugly Walmart special on my own bed...Definitely I am, certifiable!! I have 10 grandchildren of 13 still waiting for their quilts....Maybe one day I will decide to keep one...or might still keep the one I planned for myself..,LOL..until someone comes along and asks for it...

I have one hanging in the living room, the monsters have quilts and they still live here so that might count. i'm making one for our bed finally!!!

Out of the many I've made, I have 3 or 4 large ones and a few small ones that I've kept. Sometimes I make a quilt with someone specific in mind, but lots of times I just make quilts I like. Then I'll hold on to them until the "right person" comes along and you just know that's the quilt for them.

I gave away all my quilts until I ran out of people to give them to. Everyone seemed to have 3 or 4 of my quilts. My husband has two and I have 3 completed quilts in my house. I still have a few that need binding and I'm thinking of keeping a couple of them. BUT...my favorite quilt in the whole world is the quilt my sister made for me before she died at age 53. She taught me to quilt and I asked her to make me one someday. After she died, I was going through her quilting stuff and found the quilt top (she had shown me the fabric so I knew it was mine). I was so happy. Her good friend quilted it and another bound it for me so I did none of the work. Anyway, that's my favorite quilt and it hangs over my loveseat. Won't ever use it. Too precious.

I quilted a long time before I had a quilt for our bed. Most of mine are given away as soon as they are finished. Lately I have had a little more time to quilt and I actually have a small pile of finished quilts that haven't been claimed yet. I have one quilt I made on our bed and even a spare one. Make sure you keep some for yourself.

I give all of my quilts away. They are made for a particular person and I hand embroider the "label" information prior to quilting it. I don't have room for any more "stuff" so I don't want any at my house. I need all of my rooms for fabric, sewing machines, notions, etc.. HaHa

I haven't kept any! We have 2 finished quilts in our house that say.... one is my sons the other is my husbands :) It's funny since I'm not "allowed" to use either, my guys are protective of their special items :P

I have made numerous quilts and I have kept only 3. There is one at the quilters that I am going to keep also. I do really enjoy giving my quilts away. I only give to those I know will appreciate them. I have also made several Quilts for Kids and two Quilts of Valor.

I kept 3. One was my quilt to start with, the other belongs to DH. Number 3 had a bleeding problem and became unworthy of gifting. The other 15 or so have gone to good homes. And our bed doesn't have a quilt yet either.

I too am guilty! I've made several and only have a table runner for myself! I have big plans to have several on hand "some day" for the changing seasons. Eventually, I'll get there. I just enjoy seeing the look on the recipient's face when presented a special quilt that they had no clue was being made for them!

I have three queen size, two lap robes and many wallhangings that are mine. I have gifted all my kids and grands with quilts as well as many friends. Now I am making quilts for charity and comfort quilts for people I know that are stricken with cancer. Love doing this for other people.

Of the over 450 quilts I have made since I began in 2000, about 2% are still in the house. About 10% have gone to relatives. About 5% have been commissions. Up to last year, the remainder have been divided about equally between ones I've sold and ones and ones I have prepared for various charities, either as raffle quilts or for direct benefit. One person who has been commissioning my quilts all along currently owns about twice as many as I do. Several hang in his business. My DH and I recently has a discussion this topic and decided that we would no longer sell any quilts except on commission, probably just to the one party. There are 3 quilts in the pipeline for us, largely because I am challenged by the patterns. Right now, we are seeing a great deal of local need for children in out of home placement, babies and toddlers in major poverty and semi-abandoned older adults. We just made a commitment to provide quite a few to a local rehabilitation hospital, to symbolize to those patients who have given up that they still matter and can help themselves. The saintly family doctor I grew up with made a huge point of discussing the importance of these symbols in survival and healing. As a teacher, I heard many times that MY attention and encouragement changed the lives of my students. I am now quite disabled, but this is one corner of our world where I can have a positive impact one person at a time. Two people who were diagnosed with terminal cancers credit their continued life to the impact of quilts we were able to give them. Others died no longer feeling abandoned. An emergency foster parent told me that the ONLY thing owned by a child who was brought to her in the middle of the night from a crack house was a quilt I had given to the social workers for this purpose. (Everything else had to be destroyed.) These things do matter. I feel very strongly that every quilt given for these purpose must give a strong message of love. One of my friends often says that a charity quilt is, ultimately, a gift to GOD, and we must not give God shoddy gifts. She and I disagree on a great many other issues, but we are totally in agreement on this.

Actually I never made a quilt for myself as I give them as gifts to people. It made me think though, that I should make one just for me.

I have most of mine! I have made some for the grandchildren and one son, and other relatives, and some baby quilts, but I quilt mostly for my own pleasure and if someone asks for one, I'll give it, but I like looking at them. We sleep under one of them right now. Not all of them are bed sized.

What a generous and insightful quilter you are, QM. It seems that you have found under-served children and adults who slip through the cracks. And I love you and your friend's philosophy about how our gifts to God shouldn't be shoddy work.

99% of the quilts i make go somewhere else-
the first 5 years i was very actively quilting the quilt that lived on my bed came from Pottery Barn!
when we moved into our new house i did make one for us- now we have 3- but all the rest go somewhere else
i gift them, donate them & sell them- i seldom keep one

I used to think I had to make a quilt for a specific purpose or person. I still give away the majority but do keep some for hubby and I.

I have given over ten away to family members and to babies. But my husband and daughter claim most of them prior to me even thinking about giving them away. Hubby has about three. Daughter has three. I have two that I cannot part with.

so far all except one although I have one I have currently for a friend that I haven't finished and a couple kits for the in-laws that I haven't started. I am so attached to my work. Its like my art to me, hard to give away

I have been making quilts of all sizes since 1975. I give about 90% of them away. I have 3 daughters and 10 grandchildren, they see one in progress and its, Ohh Moma, or Ohh Nanny, then I know what to give them for Christmas or their next Birthday.

The only quilts I have kept are lap size. I keep saying I need to keep a larger one for the house, but I have trouble staying ahead of the grandkids! There is a top hanging over my LA in the shed that I have designated to keep, but if I get in a bind with a graduation or wedding, it will be gone!

There is the quilt i made my ds,my db and one for my dd. plus the kitty's quilt, a baby quilt of my ds have saved for whenever he might become a daddy, and the last quilt i helped my dd make for a friend that still needs the clipping of the seam allowances to make it a rag quilt. I have a couple tops done that need backs and some hand sewn grandma flower garden blocks waiting to be put in a quilt for my bed. all other tops have found homes with friends,co-workers,relatives or were made for local church group for charity .

I have given all of mine away, with pleasure.

I lost track a long time ago. I've got some. I've given some as gifts and I've sold some. There are some that I'll never part with. And, there are some that I can't give away! hehehehe!

Most of mine go somewhere else to live, family, charity, sold, but I have made myself a few also.

I actually have several quilts that I made and kept! I enjoy touching them and looking at them from time to time. I have gifted many, too, but most of them would not be bed size. If I have put many hours into a quilt such as the Farmer's Wife quilt which has tons of small blocks, I won't give it away, except to my children in the future. Cotton really shows wear when it is loved and used and washed a lot and I do that with most of mine, yet I have to hang on to and baby certain ones. I admit, I'll probably end up with stacks of quilts and gift them to my sweet grands when I'm old(er)!!

I am with you Lori. I have never kept a single one of the quilts that I have made. Nor have I ever kept any quilted wallhangings, pot holders, totebags, nook covers etc either! (oops, I did make myself a quilted purse. It is ratty and tattered and now just hangs in the closet as I haven't made a new one to replace it!) There is always a reason to give it to someone or an occasion that is being celebrated. I did make a promise to myself that I will make a quilt just for me and I have purchased the fabric and have the pattern printed out. Now, if I could just get this darn school thing out of the way, I will have a wonderful quilt to snuggle under!!

About 50% go and 50% stay. I've lost track of how many quilts already and I've only been quilting for less than four years.

I've kept 4 - 2 wall hangings and 2 throws. All the rest have been gifted to family and charity. Now I am working on a tablecloth and an applique quilt for our bed. Then I think I will have enough!

I have made over 20 quilts in the past 10 years and not kept a single one. I have sold 3 and gave the rest to family members. I keep thinking that I will make one for myself, but ... oh well, I love to be on the giving end, rather than receiving end. Makes my heart feel good.