They Do Wear Out.....

The quilts we work on so hard do eventually wear out if they are used like we want them to be.   Well, maybe I should say, as I want them to be.   I make quilts for friends and family that are meant to be used, and even "used up".   I don't make them to be a showpiece that just gets looked at once in a while and never used.   That hasn't always been true of my quilts.....but part of that is because I don't have anywhere to hang the quilts I've made for display.

I always tell my recipients that I want them to use the quilt, not just look at it.   If it wears out I can always make them another one.   How do you feel about the quilts you make - do you want people to "Use them up" or "Look at them"?

I do have one quilted project that I can honestly say I've "used up" because it is totally falling apart and I need to make replacement.

Made more than 40 yrs ago when I was in high school, I think this was about my first quilted project.   I used fabric that was available at the time and I think it was poly-cotton, with poly batting.  It only started to fall apart when I moved to Wyoming last year, so it did well over the years.  

Underneath is a pillow that my Granny made me from double-knit scraps that she had used to make pants for herself.  Not fun to sleep on but lots of memories in those scraps.  Not to mention they wear like iron!   When I take the cover off, I'll have to find the seam I've opened before so that I can add more foam stuffing before putting the new cover back on.

I think I know what fabrics I'm going to use to make the cover, but haven't fully decided yet.   My art quilt for the challenge needs to come first because that has a due date in February next year!

And the quilt under that is on my bed is a sampler quilt, one of the few I made from a pattern.  Lots of different fabrics were used in making it.   Assorted repro shirtings were used for the block backgrounds, and I raided my blue and red scraps (without making a dent them) for the rest of the blocks.   This quilt used the McCalls Big Blocks pattern that I'm finishing up now as a work-in-progress for an Am. Hero Quilt.

Gratitudes:

1. Warm weather for my parents who are out here visiting.

2. The long Christmas weekend.