Mailing quilts
 

I am downsizing and plan to mail some quilts to friends and family. How do you package your quilts? Do you wrap them in tissue paper, then plastic? Do you insure them? Have you ever lost any?

For all but the smallest quilts, I would use UPS. They have $100 of insurance built in to the price and it is much easier to collect from UPS than from USPS if you have a problem. And their prices can be better too, at least in the lower 48. I just put in a plastic bag ad then in a box. Be sure to put the delivery address INSIDE the box as well.

I have never had one go missing. I had one delayed after I had sent it UPS 2-day, they found it and sent it out Next Day early AM delivery. It had to be there for a TV show taping.

I had another one that went COD and UPS forgot to collect the check. (I eventually got it). They did not bill me for that shipment and gave me another future shipment free.

I use USPS flat rate boxes as a rule. I always wrap in plastic first in case of bad weather. You can track them online and I've never had a problem. I send a lot of tops out to be longarmed.

Susie, you may want to rethink the flat rate box. It has been my experience when using USPS to use my own box and ship priority mail but not flat rate and it has always worked out to be less than the flat rate.

To the OP, in a plastic bag and even better is one of those oversize ziploc storage bags, mailing label inside and out. USPS.

Feline- I do that, but thanks for the heads up. You're correct, you need to check the weight first. I should have mentioned that. Need more coffee :D

I put a plastic bag in the box and fold the quilt so it will fit into the box, even if it's sticking way out. Then a get the vacuum and hold the bag tight and suck all the air our of the bag until it's sucked down enough that I can close the box. I tape up the bag so it's won't expand, and then tape up the box extra to also keep the quilt from expanding.

Definitely put it into some type of waterproof cover. I save all my zipper plastic bags that my sheets come in. Also include a name and address inside with the quilt, in case the box gets water damage.

I have use UPS and USPS and none of them are fail proof. Notify the sender so they can be on the look out for a package. Dogs within reach of packages can be just as bad as a rainy day. Also with the holidays nearing there seems to be an increase of packages being removed from people's front stoop.

If you mail them out of the country....describe them as a " blanket"...not homemade quilt. I had a friend who mailed her's to Canada....it just disappeared.

Please remember to put a "To/From" address INSIDE the plastic bag that holds the quilt. If you just put it in the box, it can still get wet or lost. With a "to/from" if it can't be delivered, it can be returned. (Hopefully)

The way things are, here at least, my biggest fear would be having it delivered and left on the porch. So many thefts here.