Friday1961

I, too, have gotten rid of things I'd give anything to have back. When I was a child we lived in a very small house with no storage space and my mother encouraged me, I think, to pass things on that I'd outgrown or didn't use anymore. She was especially big on passing on toys, as she did my clothing, to younger cousins. During this time my paternal grandmother made and sold boy and girl cloth dolls. She dyed the body fabric herself, sewed and stuffed the figures and dressed the girl doll in a ruffled gingham dress with a white pinafore, and the boy doll in striped overalls, and a gingham shirt, all of which were handmade, of course. She embrodiered the faces and made the hair from yarn. She was an excellent seamstress and the dolls were beautifully and perfectly made. She let me choose which I wanted and I chose one of the boy dolls (premonition? I'm the mother of three sons!) I loved the doll and played with and admired it. But eventually I outgrew dolls and was encouraged (and was willing) to give it away to a younger cousin who still played with dolls. Now that I'm grown (more than grown!) and sew myself, I'd give anything to still have that beautiful doll completely handmade by my grandmother.

So now, of course, I keep too much of everything. Whoever said it's all about timing was absolutely right.

tessagin

Brought tears to my eyes. A while ago my neighbor's niece made her a quilt. The neighbor is going blind and can see very little but has been learning braille. The niece has labeled the quilt in Braille through out the quilt with French knots (she also embroiders) She labeled the quilt in German because of their heritage and she has a very strong German accent also the neighbor. Any way my neighbor was running her hands over the quilt the other day and discovered different bible verses along the binding. I just thought it was a beautiful way to bind a quilt. A lot of love went into that quilt. Her niece also made a journal and took close up photos of the quilt.

Shirlrh

Wow! This made me cry. I always think about how much time , effort and love that goes into a quilt.

Elaray

I made a quilt for my sister and gave it to her for Christmas. She called a few months later and asked if it was washable - because her son "wet" it. I was thrilled. At least I know she's using it!

HouseDragon

That breaks my heart. I'd have bought every single quilt: then asked the name of the quiltmaker and labeled them with as much info as possible.

There are any number of institutions that would love to have donated quilts ......

EllieGirl

I have two daughters, both grown. Daughter #1 has a boy almost 3 and a girl 20 months. I made quilts for her two when they were born. To my knowledge, they never use them. Daughter #2 has a 5 and 2 year old and their quilts are used daily. The 5 year old has obviously out grown his but insists on sleeping with it every night. I plan on making twin size quilts for them all because only the girl is still in a crib and they need twin size. Hopefully they will use them, if not, it's their loss.

jeanharville

I've enjoyed reading the many good philosophical comments and confessions. I too must confess that I didn't have a mature appreciation of old things when I was young. Not until my late 50s early 60s. But my family had nothing handmade to hand down. My grandmother's quilts were used and their house burned when she was 85 and all was lost. I envy those of you who have family treasures. My mother traded her first sewing machine in for a new one in 1957, so I didn't get her first Singer 66 (I think). I do have her Singer 401 and I treasure it. Now, I'm quilting and I will wait until my sons and or wives indicate that they would like to have a quilt. I have made all my great-grands baby quilts and their mothers have been so thrilled and have taken pictures and posted on FB. (They are all scattered in the US and overseas)

Quilts&Angie

I recently made an "original" quilt, appliqued to look like a child's drawing of flowers with each "flower" being a letter to spell out the girl's name, large sun, butterfly, a bee, lady bug, and caterpillar. It was a thank you gift to a single father (of a 3 yr old) Who recently did some major work for on my sick computer for FREE. He didn't even know me! I had hoped he would let Vivien use the quilt. Well, boy does she use it. It is her "cloak of protection" hiding under it from the cats and puppy or anything/one else that may be looking for her. Our mutual friend was recently at their home on a 95 degree day and said Vivien was wrapped in that quilt the ENTIRE time he was there. No matter what she was doing/playing, she was wrapped in that quilt. I was thrilled and could just picture this darling child enjoying her quilt. I hope she will love it for years to come.

caspharm

Sad story! My DH loves even my charity quilts.

GrannieAnnie

How on earth did she walk away. I'd have bought every single one of them--------up to my pocketbook yelling for help! Not really because they were cheap, but because they needed someone to love them.