Can you tell me where this sale is???

Sometimes there is no family and whoever handles the estate is forced to sell all the property of the deceased. If you want your quilts to go to specific people be sure to state it in your will or leave notes so people know what you want.

I used to see a lovely blue and white quilt draped over a car windshield to keep the frost off in the Winter. Nearly made me cry! Some folks just don't know what they have or they just don't care.

I think the most wonderful thing about having estate/garage sales is that someone walks away so very happy with something someone else no longer has use for. A new life is begun. My father was an artist and my mother loved plants. There was so much to handle when the house had to be sold quickly -- and at the sale I actually gave away some of the paintings and plants when I saw that someone really loved them. Just knowing that a new person and a new home would cherish them was enough for me.

I'm in Tennessee, too. Do you mind telling where you are?

belive me lose a husband and quilt just for the love of quilting someone will get them that needs or loves them i have dozens of crocks that my husband collected someday i am sure they will be sold so until then i have great memories of him when i look at them

I agree with the whole "don't judge; you don't know why they're being sold/don't impose our love of quilting on others" thing that some have written. To throw one more in the mix: I had a grandmother who was an insufferable you-know-what. We didn't keep much of her stuff because we didn't want the memories. Not everyone in this world, even quilters, are good people. Every time I hear of a quilt being mistreated (like being used to keep frost off a windshield) I wonder if it's done on purpose. ;) Of course I know nothing about the person in question in this thread.

Go to the sale and enjoy it! I hope you get some great new goodies!

Oh, that makes me sad too. I hope that they are all purchased by someone who knows their value and will cherish them. I've tried to avoid this happening to my quilts and quilting supplies.

In my will, I have specified where all quilting supplies and sewing machines go. All my books go to my guild. As far as the quilts go, they go to my husband, then my son, and then my guild to auction off for the charity of their choice.

The positive side of this situation is that they will go to people who actually WANT THEM AND WILL TAKE CARE OF THEM. That is not always true with family members.

In defence of the families who let these things go in an auction, around here it is the usual practice that "everything" goes into the auction and if separate parties want a certain item, they must bid on it like the rest of the crowd, there is no picking favorites before the auction. So, it is sort of a sad situation and if I lose a bid to someone who is determined to get a certain item, I always feel better thinking that possibly it is a family member bidding against me to get a prized possesion. Most of the time, I don't know who is family and who isn't but if I know, then I will not bid an item up. I think everyone at these auctions feel badly for the families, but that is the way it goes if they decide to divide the estate in this way.

Me too. Wish I was there with you to get some of them.