Gail,
I am so sorry to hear about your sister. It must seem like a double whammy that her husband wants to erase her hobby so quickly. I am sure he is just totally befuddled and doesn't know the first thing about how to get rid of her stuff.
You bring up an excellent case for why we need to have plan in letting our spouses know who to contact and that person/s knows what our wishes are for distribution.