I was speechless ( which doesn't happen often) when reading this. So glad that you rescued it from being sold for $10 to someone else who might not have appreciated it either.

Can I also say I am just in awe of the work she did in her 80's. May I be as blessed when I reach my 80's.

I agree, but make that early 30's, too. I will make 1 more quilt for my son( age 31), but he will not receive it until probably 40 or so...I don't want to share what happened to the last one I made or the one before that.......... :cry:

I know, Henry! I have just studied that quilt all over and on both sides and am just amazed at the work her hands did. I'm in my 50's and I don't even know how to hand quilt.....yet. This dear, sweet lady made countless quilts in her life, and to think she was still making them at her age. I would love to be like that.

Good save Ducky! You can give it a loving home till GD learns about loving quilts! I have a DIL similar to yours and I keep giving her things because I give each of the kids equal stuff. I just try to keep hers easy patterns, then I don't feel so bad when I see what she does to them.

Janstar, I try hard to make sure the kids are "equal" in their gifts, but this puts a new spin on everything. Not sure what I'm going to do for them for Christmas.

Some people just don't understand a quilt is more than just a blanket. It's a statement of love for the person it was made for. I'm just glad you rescued this piece of family history.

how sad for such a treasure I have a grandson who has a wife like that and I'm sure several things I gave them went to garage sales or Goodwill needless to say I am very careful who I give quilts too I'm so glad you found it wish I would of found some of mine

oohhh, thats not nice to sell them on ebay

[IMG]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d6...ollar-bill.jpg[/IMG]
Ok let me know how much shipping is and I will post that to you as well :wink:

Mayhaps in her youth she has not yet experienced nostalgic love and cannot quite understand how we "experienced" piecemakers truly feel. It is the love and thought that are the important part of that quilt. Give your DIL and son time to live life and learn about true life treasures. No one learns these things until they live them. Make your disappoint a positive lesson for them. Share with them some of your most treasure memories of your Aunt, if not verbally then in a letter you can give them when you feel love instead of disappointment. Our hearts are not made of cloth, our hearts go into the work we weave into cloth and sew into quilts. It all comes full circle in life. Don't stop giving because you feel unappreciated.....give more and appreciate more to your family and friends. Life is the little moments, don't miss them.
Blessed be all of you and may the bow ties bind you all together in many more beautiful memories and many more ways.
Mardi

Maybe those sold at the garage sales found true love.

Very true, Mardi. Very well put.

I was upset, but as I said, by the next day we were hugging and laughing and talking. DIL knows how much I love her. And you know what? She may NEVER get to the point where she loves and appreciates these kinds of things, but that's her life and not mine.

It's too bad that some people don't appreciate hand work and a gift from the heart like this.

It's beautiful, a true treasure, and I'm glad you saved it.

It really is a treasure. It's still on my bed, and everytime I go in I have to study more bows. :D

I do that, too, with quilts that others have made. I like to just look at them and think about how they viewed them while they were making them.

This is the reason that I am very careful about giving a quilt away. I only make quilts for people that appreciate them. The materials alone, can be $70-100 and then there are the hours of my life that I spent making the quilt. The only quilts that I send into the world to fend for themselves, are the charity quilts for children and nursing homes.

Somehow I missed this.
Ducky, wtg on saving that treasure!!!

Let's ask each of us what the definition of appreciation is in our own words. We will find I am sure, that there are so many different interpertations. Let's do this just for fun and see what we come up with.
Mardi

Thank you for sharing this treasure with us. I like Bow Tie quilts. They are scrappy and have a unique quality especially with that pretty border and being hand quilted, they are really special. It definitely needs a good label now that it has found a good home. God does work in mysterious ways! :lol:

Glad you rescued the quilt. It is beautiful and the quilting is fantastic. I'm glad that you have a close enough relationship with her to let it go and carry on.

It really makes me sad when I think about what a disposable country this has become. Sometimes I wonder how many items will be passed down from generation to generation in the future.

Beautiful quilt! Most young people don't realize what quilting is, nor the value of a hand made item.
It is such a shame that they "wake up" too late in life. I am glad you rescued it from the sale!
marta.

Years ago with the coming of GK's, I made several smocked dresses and other things for my GD. My EX-daughter-in-law took them to the flea market to sell cause she didn't like that hand made junk. No, I never made anything more for her. Now she's a young lady and I sew for her all the time. She loves the things I make.

Absolutely horrifying. I completely agree with everyone else! I have a DIL that would do the same. You keep it and eventually find someone in the family who will treasure it as much as you. I would really back off giving them things labored over. Not sure talking to your son would help at all! I am just shaking my head and THRILLED that you were there to save it!

OMG I am so glad that you got the quilt! It just proves that many people do not appreciate quilts or the love that goes into them. Some people only like 'store bought' also.

There is an old story about a woman who gave her son an heirloom quilt for a wedding gift and shortly after the newlyweds got back from their honeymoon they were showing mom around their new home and barn and mom saw the quilt in the barn being used as a dogs bed.... horrors!

Love the bow tie quilt!

warm quilt hugs, sue in CA

I'm so glad you were able to rescue it. My grandmother made a quilt for me for my wedding--hand quilted. I am very sad that I used it to death. Just did not understand how to care for it. I would give anything to still have that quilt.

It is a beautiful quilt & I'm so glad you were able to get ahold of it before it was sold. I guess some people don't understand the love & time that goes into one of these quilts. I'm sure that you will make sure that the quilt gets the respect it needs. What a lot of work for an elderly lady & what a beautiful job she did!! Hand quilted even!!! I'm sure we all are happy that you rescued it!!!

So glad that you were there in time to "rescue" this wonderful quilt !!!

I've had a couple of similar experiences myself ... One was years ago when a selfish aunt in the family had decided to just throw all my grandmother's quilts and handmade linens in a YARD sale she decided to have after my grandmother had to move to a nursing home !! She hadn't bothered to even ASK the rest of the family what we would like to have - FIRST - she just wanted to sell it all off ASAP !!! No sentimental concern or appreciation whatsover. Fortunately, another aunt grabbed up the quilts and linens and gave them to the other siblings and to all the granddaughters in the family. I'm so glad she did !!

A couple of years ago, I happened by to see a friend who was having a garage sale and ... sitting there for sale was the beautiful baby quilt I'd made for her daughter !!!
I was shocked and hurt to see it for sale, but I picked it up and asked her why - it was still in good condition. She said it "didn't match the room anymore since we redecorated ..."
So I said calmly, if she wanted to get rid of it, I'd take it !! I gave her the $5 price she had marked on it and left. She never apologized later or even seemed to understand why I was upset. Her next baby did NOT get a quilt from me !!
Since that day, I only make very simple, quick quilts for those who may not appreciate all the hard work we do !!

You don't stop making them quilts, you just save them for when they move out of the house and are on their own. Make sure your will specifies who gets what so there is no fighting if you depart a bit early. I like the thought of leaving something that people will appreciate when I am gone.

I decided my daughters get a quilt on their 12th birthday and I have no fear of them losing, selling, or misusing the quilts I make them. They know what goes into a quilt, they watch their dad make them. As for others I make? Well, there aren't that many that leave the family, and will never be unless they are for charity. Those, you let go into the wind and hope someone appreciates them for a minute, an hour, a day, or the rest of their lives.

tim in san jose

I am so glad you rescued this treasure and are loving it.

I, too, rescued a gift I'd given to a family member, from the Goodwill box. I took it home, unbeknownst to her and my pooch adopted it as 'his' blanket. When his time came, I buried my pooch with that little quilt.

And DUCKY, you're an angel for saying you don't understand DIL but still love her. You're alright by me! We should all have wonderful MIL like you.

Ducky,
I am sorry to be a meanie ... But the next ime you have to go shopping at a local quilt store, take her along to see what a quilt costs to make these days. That should raise her eyebrows a little.

There are many people who just don't understand about quilts. Probably because they were out of fashion for a while and the process was not seen day in and day out on a quilt frame with a dear lady blistering her fingers to finish a hand made, hand quilted coverlet.

Have them watch the antique road show. These old beauties go for a hefty sum! Thousands. Some of the new ones go for that amount too, I might add. Just visit a shop that sells them. It is jaw dropping at a checkout stand of a quilt shop.

Ranting aside ... You are a sweet mother in law to forgive her so quilckly. God willing we were all so nice.

Remember, your son was getting rid of the quilt also. I would have been furious.

A few years ago, my daughter was showing her sons, then 8 & 6 the quilts I had done for them as babies, & the older one asked her, "Were they done with love?" She told them yes. Out of the mouths of babes. They knew what it was. They each have several now, even made them quilts for their beds & they treasure them.

New to the board,but I to rescued a quilt from a garage for 12 dollars.Its not my colors,but it has hand embroidery and praire points with hand quilting,I brought it home and it is on my bed.I cherish it because I know the hours of labor to make it, I wish I knew who made to tell them I love the quilt and use it every night,I tell my friends it needed a home where someone would love it,P.S. I live in Michigan

I am so glad to hear of another quilt being saved. Here is a poem you may enjoy.
In Honor of an Unknown Quilter

I saw your quilt top,
Green and yellow in the distance.
There is was, catching the breeze,
Draped over an old chifforobe to dry.
A morning mist had dampened it,
And sensing he had a treasure,
The flea market vendor had placed it there.

One end unfinished, brown with the years.
I held your quilt, saw your face, and cried.
Was it illness? Death? a crippling stroke?
What made you lay it aside?
Perhaps your fingers ceased to move.
Anyway, you must have had a reason.

Be assured:
Youir quilt is safe with me.
I will wash it, quilt it, care for it,
And place it on my bed in your honor.
Perhaps some day someone will
Do the same for me.
Written by Carol Vickers of Decatur, Mississippi

From Hilda, aka New Knee

It is a beautiful quilt. Unfortunately, if someone doesn't sew, they don't realize the hours, money, sweat and sometimes tears that go into a quilt ( or any other hand made thing). and it seems that today's younger generation throws so much out. Glad you were there to rescue that treasure!

u r totally righ

some pe doesnt respect hand made gifts

good u find this try to rescue others

in our family anything, ANYTHING, that's passed around or passed down that comes from a family member, before it's disposed of, i get "first rights of refusal". then if none of the kids wants it, and i don't want it, it can go. dishes, furniture, linens, whatever. i get the last vote. or else the poop hits the fan!

oh my goodness this is so beautiful. Your DIL must not sew or she would certainly appreciate this token of love. How sad that todays kids (mine included) do not appreciate a family heirloom. Did you give her the $10? just curious

I tried to give her the $10, but she wouldn't take it.