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When you see your quilt

When you see your quilt

Old 08-17-2012, 07:12 AM
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Default When you see your quilt

When you have given a quilt as a gift and later you see it used on a bed, but it is not being shown, another quilt is on top, or a comforter or a bedspread, are your feelings hurt? When you have given a lap quilt and you see it displayed on a sofa, but the back of the quilt not the front is the side that is being shown, are your feelings hurt? Do you say anything? If you gave a lap quilt and thought it would be used on the sofa and you saw it used in the car, would you be hurt?

I'm thinking of a comment that "The front of the quilt was just too busy with all that pattern and color - the solid color of the back was so much nicer."!!!!

Last edited by TanyaL; 08-17-2012 at 07:15 AM.
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Old 08-17-2012, 07:25 AM
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Who am I to force my color choices and design ideas on someone else? I give a gift and how they use it or not is up to them. About 90% of the quilts I see, I'd not display in my home but find another way to use. A gift should be given with no 'strings' or rules applied. Or don't give gifts.
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Old 08-17-2012, 07:32 AM
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What Candace said! Once you gift it, it's their's to use as they see fit. So what if it's covered - they are enjoying the warmth. And maybe your colour choice wasn't to their liking - but they are still using it and loving one side (and your quilting, obviously). The comment you quoted was perhaps not the most diplomatic - but I hope that I am not expected to use a quilt exactly as the gifter envisioned. Heck, my own quilts are usually folded randomly if they are in frequent use, and don't necessarily highlight the part I thought was most beautiful when I made it.
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Old 08-17-2012, 07:41 AM
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I gift bags quilts etc as you say once given it is theirs to use as they wish. Today at our quilting class I gave presents out 2 years ago , one of the group has asked if I have the pattern of the one I made. I felt very proud and had not realised it was used ever time sha was quilting.
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Old 08-17-2012, 07:42 AM
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my mom only uses hers when we visit or family comes and stays... first thing she does is show it off and puts them on the beds for them to use.. When they leave she puts them up again..

I was gifted one for my daughter when she was born and i used it everyday.. washed well and still looks great.. The gifter was mortified that it wasn't saved as an heirloom..

My brother uses his on the floor for the kiddos naptime...

My sister keeps hers on the couch....

my aunt uses hers while shes in her wheelchair...

My friend tucks hers away in a closet and 'supposedly' uses/displays it when visitors arrive..

Everyone is different.. what they do with it after its given is their decision.. What they end up doin determines whether or not a second ( or third) quilt from me is in thier future..
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Old 08-17-2012, 07:46 AM
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I would never say anything to someone on how they used my gift. All the quilts I have given away have been loved and treated with love, however if I felt hurt by the treatment of one I would never give that person another quilt.
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Old 08-17-2012, 07:49 AM
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I only get my feelings hurt if the person who recieved it had picked the pattern and the fabrics. I do have a "quilt gift" policy I tell all who receive one of my quilts. If for any reason you want/like one I have currently that has not been "claimed"yet. You can exchange it !
I only had one "exchange" in over 30 years. In fact there are some still out there , that I wish would come back , as my quilting has improved so much over the years , some look so... dull and primative .. I hate to admit I made them.
There have been a few that found homes on shelves.. and I was told that they are too good for regular use. I have threatened to dump spagetti sauce on them so they won't be "so good". So many times people I give to really do cherish them and just can bring themselves to use them regularly. So the "spagetti sauce talk" lets them know USE THEM. It would bother me more to know that some other generation ( who never knew me or met me) would find them on a shelf .. and discard them. I intend for my quilts to be "consumed" in my lifetime.

Last edited by Lori S; 08-17-2012 at 07:57 AM.
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Old 08-17-2012, 07:50 AM
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I made a beautiful quilted wall hanging for a friend using the colors she loves. I even helped her make her one and only quilt when I lived near her many years ago. She is unable to do crafts pretty much on her own without someone holding her hand thru the whole process. She is a sweet person but she really can't figure out much on her own. There are times the friendship wears on me. She told me she loved the wall hanging that I made for her but she has yet to hang it up where it can be seen. She has moved to three different houses and still it is folded away. When I asked her if she ever hung it up she said "I'll treasure it always". That really sounds nice but I'd feel it was more appreciated if it were hung up somewhere...even the basement would do! She hinted to me recently she'd love to have a quilt but I told her she already has a quilt from me....the wall hanging.
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Old 08-17-2012, 08:00 AM
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It's really kind of funny the emotional tie we have to our quilts. We love to make them, give them away, but we always think about them. If they are loved, used and cared for in the proper manner.
My first quilt was given to my niece for her first born child. I ask my sister, does he still use it? How does it wash? Is it faded? Worn or tattered? It's ten years old. He still loves it, and uses it on his bed. It makes me so happy. But I cringe when I think of all of the little "oppsies" that I made. But, it doesn't matter one tiny little bit to him.
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Old 08-17-2012, 08:09 AM
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My great grandmother made quilts for all her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. My mother used her quilts (on beds, covers on sofa, and dog beds). Her sister (my aunt) stored hers away in a cedar chest. Imagine how happy I am to have been the receiver of that cedar chest!!! Yes, I still have the quilt she made for my bed and from one of my brothers that I cherish as wall hangings. But on the coldest winter nights I wrap up in the one she made from upholstery fabrics -- very heavy, but lovingly warm. The dog quilts are long gone but its the ones that were either lightly-used or admired that I am able to cherish today.
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