Ok, but I still don't see a problem. I paid $140.00 for a frame over
15 years ago, and have little doubt that a similar, well crafted frame of high quality materials would cost about $300 today.
This really is a matter of how someone values the two dissimilar items. Although many quilters are enraged enough by the writer's remark to send her letters about the injustice of comparing what they see as a cheaply framed snapshot to a well made quilt of high quality fabric, I am sure there are also other people sending her complaints about her comparing their quality photography in a high quality frame to what they see as the result of a crafter's sewing hobby. To me, and hopefully others, a quilt and a framed photo are fairly equal monetarily if the quality of the materials and workmanship are equal. Sacrilege, I know. Debra in VA See my quilts at
Mickie, your question was how much does it cost to make a quilt. My answer was purely about how it could be done. A good quilter would never use worn or damaged fabrics so chances are non-quilters would not know the origins of the fabrics used in a quilt unless the quilter told them. (I have quilting cotton yardage and new clothing bought at Goodwill, but not used or worn items. Ick!)
Personally, I wouldn't bother to do it. Way too much time and effort involved for me to make a quilt in a month or less depending on how early I received the invitation.
Most middle class couples usually expect to get an "Unattending" on the RSVP of anyone who must pay his/her own way to travel a long distance to the wedding site. And let's face it, most long distance invites are sent in hope of getting gifts by mail.
I am so glad you know that because so many people don't.
Just like many people think another person's job is a walk in the park. It's never true. Every job has an up side and a down side, and every hobby is more expensive than outsiders think. Debra in VA See my quilts at
Your Thrift and Goodwill stores must be sad places if there is only old and worn clothing and rags in them. I've bought nice quilter's yardage in my Goodwill, 2 yards each of an Alexander Henry print and a Cranston print spring to mind. I've also bought expensive clothing that had obviously never been worn since all the original brand and sales tags were still dangling by those long plastic tacks. It usually takes time to find the jewels among the chaff, but I think I must be lucky as I seem to find things like that without really looking.
Would I bother to make a quilt as a gift I need within a month or so of receiving an invitation? No. I wouldn't bother buying materials and sewing a quilt at that point because of the time and labor involved. It is much quicker to go into a store and pick up something for the same amount of money. Would I fly to the wedding of my cousin who lives in Texas that I haven't seen in years? Also no. I know I would not be expected to attend. I'd RSVP as "Unattending", then write her a nice letter and mail it along with a gift.
Most of all, I certainly wouldn't grouse about the affair in a letter to an advise columnist that isn't likely to be answered in time for me to use the advise, if it is answered at all. The tightwad dolt that wrote the question probably just wanted a good reason to tell his nagging mother why he would not fly to his cousin's wedding. If he were truly strapped for cash he would have simply UPSed the cousin a $15 toaster or something else equally cheap.
Ack! How rude! It's times like that that make me bite my tongue and mentally repeat, "No family function is complete until at least one gormless idiot wandering around making loud, obnoxious, and inappropriate comments." I didn't make the rule, but I do realize it exists. However, knowing it doesn't really take the sting out of the idiot's comments.
You did good. I'm proud of you, myself. Ignoring idiots isn't easy.
I agree. Not everyone appreciates hand crafted items. And some don't appreciate expensive items either because the items may not seem expensive enough to them. (I have some of each type in my family.) I give them what I can afford and I feel they deserve,........and sometimes, like when it's for one of those gormless idiots, that gift turns out to be a $15 toaster. ;-)
Hey Debra, I haunt the local thrift stores because we collect several old things. Radios, sewing machines, quilts, etc. I have bought everything including nice hoffmans for bargain prices. Kind of sad you can see when quilter dies or maybe clears out a stash cause there will be a lot of good stuff. We used to have a guy that sold cut-offs from scrubs semi-locally. He did a circuit of the quilt guilds and he had some really nice fabrics in pretty usable pieces. He sold bags of the stuff. Guild gals bought it up like crazy. I found several bags of really great stuff from him at the thrift store for nearly nothing. I had some good quality sale stuff I put it with and got this:
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puzzle 6th photo down) It is a beautiful quilt and cost next to nothing and is good fabric. VIntage blocks and tops are a great find too. I tease you have to look at a lot of garbage to find the good stuff but it is out there. The hunt is half the fun but won't work for a spur of the minute gift.
I remember when you first posted a link to that picture. I loved it at first sight. Such nice colors and an unusual block pattern to boot. I didn't know it was made partly from fabrics bought at such a bargain though.
Yes, it is sad when you realize the yardage at the thrift stores probably came from a quilter's estate, but I like to think it makes that quilter's spirit happy when another quilter finds that fabric and takes it home. Debra in VA See my quilts at
Don't feel like the Lone Ranger about this my dear Butterfly. I am *so* blessed in that I have no allergies or problems with migraines. The last time I even had a slight headache was 30 years ago when I got whacked on the noggin with a backhoe boom. I can NOT go into those thrift stores; there's something about the air/smell/whatever that just makes my nostrils slam shut and my lungs refuse to expand to inhale. I can't seem to breathe. It's the dust, old rancid clothing smell, cheap scented candles, all the oxygen has been sucked out of the building, who knows, but it's toxic to my "delicate sensibilities" too.
Maybe the thing that is outrageous is that the suggested gift, most of use read as supposed to be cheap, but in reality neither of the suggestions was. I read framing a photo as a 5*7 snap in a wooden frame bought cheaply in a multi pack, but maybe that's not what she meant. I'm not familiar enough with the magazine to have any idea what the readership might think was a reasonable amount to spend on a wedding gift. Myself I tend to spend 40-80 dollars, I would spend more for family, but none of them have got married! When we got married, I think there may have been the odd person who didn't bring a gift and a reasonable number who spent less than 20 dollars and that was normal in the circles we moved in, fairly frequently invites would go out with encouragment not to bring a gift, which was genuinely meant, not some kind of perverse way of being polite.
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