What to do with quilts that have no receipent

Maureen,

I would be more than happy to have your quilts here with me!! I'll appreciate every scrap of fabric and every stitch of thread! My addy's in the directory!

I don't have that many around because I haven't made that many yet (other than those that I have given away). I will probably rotate them out on the bed or at various display points once I do get a collection going, however, and store the others while they are waiting their turn for the spotlight.

Dannielle

I just keep them, especially when I really love them. I swap hung ones around - on the wall, back in the cupboard for a spell, others get hung ... and so it goes on. . In message , Maureen Wozniak writes

I keep various quilts and rotate them. The "in storage" quilts are in fact all on the bed in the second guest room, which keeps them clean, not folded, and protected from light. The current quilt is on top of the bed, and I switch them around now and then. I am also hanging on to some quilts for the great nieces and great nephews until the last one is finished, and those are on the bed, too.

How about changing out your wall quilts every so often. You could have a changing gallery.

If a quilt doesn't say to me who it should go to, then I will keep it. Something will come up someday when you will be glad you have it on hand. You may want a quilt to donate to charity or to a special friend going through a hard time or something like that. Some you like to just keep around for the memories, to look back at occasionally.

Every 4 months end your extras to me. Our house ECHOES very badly. (It was a 'show house' not for real living according tot eh fellas.) Yes, it echoes! so I'll put them up and admire them --and then we can trade out in 4 months so your DH won't tire of what you have up. Right now, I have one on the couch/futon and one up on the wall behind it, a small wallhanging in the main bathroom, 1 on each bed, on and 2 on the Design Wall.

Table runners are the only quilts I have several of and those are each seasonal so get rotated. I do have a couple of girl baby quilts but only one has a home right now. As I complete quilts they seem to find homes.

I give them away. I make quilts for friends or family specifically for one person. I make art quilts - a couple are going up on the wall soon :) . And I make quilts that are given away as soon as they're finished. Red Cross or Children's Home Society...I buy gorgeous fabric that I want to handle and work with and I make a pretty quilt that anybody would be proud to have and I give it away to somebody I will never see or know. It makes my heart feel good.

Sunny

You can rotate them. I have a wall hanging in the dining room and change that periodically and rest the other -- probably rotate through a half-dozen or so, some of them seasonal. I also have 4 or 5 quilts that I use on our bed -- one at a time of course.

Julia > Yesterday was President's Day and since I didn't have to work, I spent the

Maureen, I'm lucky that DH doesn't seem to mind having quilts covering the walls in most of the house. However, I still have too many quilts to be able to have them all on display. The solution, for me, is to rotate them, using some for a while and then replacing them with others for a time. Some are seasonal, others are just "because". :)

Other than baby quilts I don't tend to give quilts away to friends or family unless there is a huge appreciation. I once gave away a couple quilts when I first started. They were just wall panels, but hand quilted. Took me about four months to do one. One person had no respect for it and ending up ruining it. I love to see my quilts used for sure. And if people use them to the point they wear out, that's great. I asked this person why after I got over the hurt. She basically had no idea what quilting was or the time involved. So now when I give a quilt to someone that is not of our world I include a note that spells out how much money I spent and I break down the time I spent on it. I also say that I do expect them to use it and enjoy it. It's nicely worded of course. The last one I did for nurse friend of mine that had a baby she was totally shocked. It cost me over $60 for all the materials, and almost 60 hours to do it. It was the blue star paper pieced. She admitted that she thought you could just throw a quilt together in a day and that's it. So I'm hoping now she has a new respect for our art. And that's the stand I've taken, to educated non-quilters that have no idea. Once I actually took pictures as I was doing a quilt to show the steps and shared the photos with the receipt. She said it was nice to know because she really didn't have a clue either. Giving to charity is different because I feel I'm giving to the cause. But I would still be hurt if I found one of my quilts being used as a mat in the driveway for the husband to change oil. I'm sure I could quilt for the next 10 years though and not get all the projects done that I want for myself. So that's my two cents. Take Care Joanna Alberta

Golly, I have about a dozen in active use. They are all big enough to cover up with. I rotate them though. A couple are hidden away from 12 y.o. DS who thinks all quilts are his to snuggle up in. He spilled ketchup on a quilt that my husband's great grandmother made in the '30's. (He is a special needs kid.) That taught me!

I have quilts on every bed (one or two), several in the living room on a wonderful wrought iron quilt stand (from a party-deal and I can't remember the name of it) and one across the back of the couch.

I make quilts for other people too.....have just finished one and am planning another wedding quilt. By just plugging along they get finished.

That's one of the reasons why I only do small quilts. My house isn't big enough to store bed quilts, not that I've ever managed to actually finish one! Plus I have 8 or 9 bed quilts my Grandmas made.

Cindy

Howdy!

Well, this beg is a little more colorful than the standard (and worn ) "send it to me". As Queen of the Beggars, I'll give you a B+ on this effort, B-fly. Your house only echoed when we laughed, as I remember,.. and we laughed a bunch! ;-D

Cheers!

R/Sandy - .. oh, answer to subject question: what to do w/ the quilts: have them

I have a dedicated area of the house for the hanging and display of the quilts. It is a large 3rd floor room with built-in racks for display and storage, along with long poles to hang other quilts on another of the walls. They mostly go unseen up there but I like to take people up and show them off. There are a few scattered about the house in other areas but the majority are up there, in quilt heaven, as it were. I also give some of them away from time to time as the mood strikes me and the person I give it too would seem to be the sort that can appreciate what I have done. I have recorded pictures on a back up hard drive on my computeer so I can always visit them there. Not very tactile, but I just drop in there to say hello, now and then.

John

SEND IT TO MEEEEE!!!!! Greedy little thing, aren't I? I PROMISE I'd appreciate it! I don't actually know anyone who wouldn't appreciate a quilt. Sometimes they talk to you and tell you who to give it to! I have plans for making quilts for all my BFFs. One down (the New Hampshire quilt I posted about a while ago.) Three on the "list" (It's a very long list!) One other thing you can do is make seasonal quilts and swap them out that way. I have a falling leaves quilt,a heart quilt, a summer wall hanging. I always wanted a summer yo-yo quilt but I doubt I'll ever have enough for that.

Judy from Mass

Maureen, I can think of 2 things in this area. You can sell them in arthur - there are quilt auctions at Rockome Gardens about 6 times a year. There are also plenty of great causes/charities that could use them to raise money. I also give a quilt to every graduate from high school in my circle of family and friends - God knows it's really hard to get through high school intact!

Musicmaker

On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:04:16 -0600, Dannielle wrote (in article ):

LOL! Give it time. I find they keep multiplying. As does the fabric and the thread!

Maureen