MommaThomps

It's true. When I give a quilt away I always give it to someone that I know will be appreciative and love it. I love making quilts for people (my husband complains that everything I make is always given away), but I tailor it to the person and "screen" who I'm giving it to.

stitchinwitch

Face it people - there are quilters, and there are people who love quilts, but don't make them.............then there is everyone else - people that do not have a single clue about what goes into the making a quilt -oh, it's not just sewing some fabric together, it is the deciding, the planning, the feeling of the fabric, the pride we feel as everything comes together; so many steps as we beam that it is completely finished, maybe labeled, and perhaps a picture is taken of it - and then - the recipiant, with just their lack of enthusiasm, crushes us like a bug on the sidewalk. I have told this before, but a new neighbor asked me to make a quilt for her, I did, no pay, just to be neighborly, and when I saw it shortly after..YIKES - it was on her bed - IT HAD BEEN WASHED AND DRIED WITH TOWELS!!!!!I am still CRUSHED!!!

quiltease

I have dear friends who after many years of marriage were finally expecting a baby. I made them a quilted baby blanket. A year or so later when I was visiting I didn't see the quilt anywhere. Laura proudly showed me it was tucked in a drawer because "it was too nice to use". Thirteen years later it is still in the drawer. I did make them a lap quilt which was thrown over the couch for a while. Probably in a drawer now, too. It takes me a while to learn.
bev.

nursie76

I was thinking the same thing. Your work on the quilt may not have been appreciated by its intended recipient, but I am almost certain the nurse did or she would not have accepted it...so long story short, the intended person may not spend chilly winter nights warmed by it, but someone whom you don't even know is most likely warmed and comforted by your work. Sort of like an unplanned random act of kindness.

Bless you for trying to comfort your friend.

Connie Merritt

Humans are unreal at times. And no, some just do not realize (THINK) about the work, time, thought and money spent on making a particular item for someone we love (even just like). I could write a chapter about my MIL and closet where all of my hand make gifts were found, even the memory pillow (velvet pillow with roses make of her son's (my husband's) ties was seen buried under junk. Take heart, you are not alone and you are appreciated by LOTS of people. You are special.

renee765

HeatherQuilt - what a beautiful and non-antagonizing way to figure out who would appreciate your quilts! Your idea makes it painless for all involved - wish I had thought of it, but glad you shared it with us!

I have to admit that, in my younger years, I had possession of a quilt made by my husband's grandmother that I didn't appreciate. I had been given the quilt by his mother, who had not taken care of it, and I continued the bad treatment. I did not know at that time what it takes to make a quilt, and the love that goes in to it. Not a day goes by now that I don't think of that quilt, and wish to heaven's that I had known what I really had. I apologize to Grandma Hutchison in Heaven- and have to live with the knowledge that I didn't take care of her quilt. I always think of this when I hear about others who don't appreciate homemade quilts. I was this way out of ignorance, not out of irreverance, and I'm sure many others are the same.

Your idea to weed out the ignorant is fantastic!

Woodster

My husband's business partner and friend and his wife's baby turned 1 in May. I made one of the superfast jellyroll quilts for the baby. I got thanked for the blanket! Their 4 year old got some books and a huge bubble wand for his birthday in July!

On the other end of the rainbow, both my daughters got a crotched throw from me when they went off to college. They still get used like their favorite "blankies".

I hope this isn't too morbid, but my SIL is a Long-armer in CA. When my MIL (her mom) was diagnosed in the final stages of pancreatic cancer, she asked for a prayer quilt she could take with her. So Lin made one for her and Ruthie was comforted by it in her final days.

JJs

The one thing that amazes me the most is people have no clue how much $$$$ is involved in a quilt... let's not even consider $8-$12 LQS fabric - we'll use WM or markdown fabric as our example, and we STILL have boocoo bucks involved in just the top... then there's the batting, and then backing...
Yet there are people who consider a gifted quilt a "cheap" gift, "homemade to save money" mentality.
Or they see quilts at WM for $30 or at Cracker Barrel for $100 and consider them low cost items.
When sewing machines became available for the home it was a big deal, the machines were very ornate because if you could AFFORD a machine, you wanted to display it (show off if you will).
So the people who could NOT afford such luxury had to come up with a way to disparage another's good fortune and they made fun of machine sewn stuff.....and all of a sudden the only "real" quilt was a handmade one.
Then people made more money and could afford 'store bought' - and they could lord it over the ones who couldn't, so 'store bought' became the goal and homemade was put down...
While I was growning up the transition was from "homemade" to "store bought" (after WWII). Nobody wanted homemade anymore.
Now it's all designer stuff that people want - frankly I don't understand the mentality of having what everybody else has - before Miley got crazy all the preteen girls were gaga over Miley Cirus stuff - it's still in the stores, and before that it was those two twins....
I guess the point of this rambling essay is that some people will ALWAYS appreciate what you did and what you made and how much you poured into it of money/yourself and others just won't get it.
It's a hard lesson to learn ...

Cuilteanna

It is all about knowing (or finding out) who will really appreciate your work.

I have to admit that despite being a quilter and knowing the amount of work in handmade items I still prefer store bought gifts (electronics & jewelry, please, LOL!). Up to the 90's Ireland was still a relatively poor place, and handmade gifts were something that we gave and received because we didn't have much money to buy something nice. I still have that mindset to some extent, although one wall hanging I was given which was specifically tailored to my colours and "likes" has pride of place in my computer room.

So when I give a quilt I always say that I won't be the least bit offended if they use it at the beach, hand it on to someone else or drop it into the local charity shop. What happens after I give it doesn't bother me since I usually choose to make a specific quilt because I want to try a pattern or technique, and I've accomplished that when the quilt is done. If I think it's really good I tend to keep it, when they're piled up too high I get the extended family and friends in to pick out whatever ones they want (if any).

My mum was hanging on to two lap quilts that she never used (she prefers the wool rug my dh gave her) just to avoid hurting my feelings! I ended up putting them in her Vincent de Paul donation box myself and I could see how relieved she was to have them gone without me being upset.

Gabbystabber

Sorry Lori. My little dog has 2 quilts of his own that I made and he loves quilts as much as I do.