I have a quilt that my aunt made and gave me for a wedding gift. i love it. she and her church lady friends quilted regularly and she gave a quilt to all the girls in our large family (cousins, daughters, granddaughters...) when they got married. What a precious gift!

I have two Granny Square Afgans. The one my Mother made me when I was born and one my Grandmother made for me. They are both multi-colored and one is a black square, the other cream color. They are treasures in an antique wire egg basket. (:

We have about 8 - 10. We used to collect them but then the prices got so ridiculous we stopped.

I quilt so everyone in my family has at least one quilt. I currently have four quilted wall hangings, two quilts on beds and two quilts draped over furniture as in the picture. When it is summer I have a quilt on the porch for chilly evenings. Anyone need a quilt?

My parents have a crazy quilt made by my grandmother. My father can still point to every patch and say "That was one of Dad's neckties" "This was a piece of one of Mom's dresses." We keep it in a cedar chest because it is infant sized and none of us has a baby right now.

Same here Jessica, but my quilt was made all from my grandfather's old clothes. Long ago my grandma made a bunch of quilt tops, and for each of us kids, my mom had the tops finished and done. Because my grandmother passed away before I was married, to get such a gift for my wedding was truly magical. It is one of my prized possessions. I remember my grandfather was tickled that I got a quilt made from his old dress shirts and pajamas. I think Mom surprised him with that too!

My parents got a quilt made by my dad's grandmother for their wedding. I have it. Sad to say it is quite damaged I am not sure what to do with it. It somehow got mold on it and many of the squares are rotted. I want to just throw it in the hot water wash and let fate handle the rest. But I have not had the courage to do that yet.

My grandma made me a beautiful quilt. I want to display it somewhere but I am not sure how. I don't like wooden quilt stands. I was thinking about something like a long towel rack - install that in the study/guest BR. Then display it folded in thirds. The inside is as well constructed as the top.

I have a quilt related question. We purchased a beautiful quilt , in Pennsylvania Amish County, prior to our marriage some twenty ago. We used it at first on a regular size bed, but when changing over to a king size, the quilt is too narrow. We then hung on the wall behind the bed, but want it back on the bed. I am considering stitching side panels in a plain color ( same material as the draperies and the main color of the quilt) i cant go and make photos since my husband is already asleep, with the quilt carefully folded of course ;-) . Any other suggestions would be very much appreciated.

To Bluenan: you have a very nice home with precious belongings. To have something with a family history is priceless. Thank you for sharing!

Thanks, w110129! I am fortunate to have those on both sides of my family that have cared for and treasured family pieces and family history and passed those things and stories down to me. Both of my parents were only children and I have one brother with no children, so I have become the family "keeper".

W110129:
Not sure I am understanding what you want to do with your quilt. Stitching panels on the side would look strange unless you padded them with quilt batting and quilted them. They would just look like fabric not like an extension of the quilt. I use all sizes of quilts all over the house. Folded at the foot of the bed,folded over the back of a sofa, folded in thirds and draped over a chair, tablecloth, hanging over a banister on a balcony or just as extra padding on a bench. I think if you want to expand the quilt for that particular bed you should take it to a quilt shop and see if there is anyone who would work with you to get it done in a way that complements the original.

Both of my daughters received baby blankets made by my aunt when they were born. They both have slept with those blankets every single day... One is 22 and the other 20. Last week I was visiting my daughter and went to wash her sheets - there bundled under her pillow, was her "blankie." Both blankets are tattered and bare. I'm sure my aunt had no idea how special those blankets would be to my girls.

When my daughters' father tragically died at 43, 7 years ago, I had them each select shirts of his that they loved. A seamstress then made them into quilts - they are so beautiful. With the left over fabric she gave us 2 baby blankets.

To mfwolffe: I will consider your sound advise and consult a quilt shop. If it was up to me, I would use this quilt as decoration ( again) but, my dear husband has his mind set that it should be used as a bedspread
. Not only that, he insists we fold it up together every evening while discussing and settling any possible differences ( fights) we might have had that day. The lady in Pennsylvania told us that it is an Amish tradition. Maybe so.... but it IS now our routine. Maybe I should get a new and larger one next Spring when I return for a visit. Thank you for your time

I have one of my husband's grandmother's quilts hanging on the wall of my sitting room upstairs.

When my husband retired, my aunt made a beautiful quilt of his many old ties with the design fanned like a starburst. She decided to collect the ties from other family members as well and she embroidered "Family Ties" in the center. We love it but isn't displayed anymore as it doesn't fit our décor. I think I'll bring it out again. :) It's a nice reminder that he doesn't have to wear ties much anymore. :) I previously made "loops" for the top and hung it on a wooden dowel on the wall in our guest bedroom.

I have an old blanket from my bed as a kid. Australian Merino wool, very warm.

I quilt, our house has an abundance of quilts usually, right now they are all put away so the grit (drywall and leveling compound) doesn't get all over them.

W110129. What a wonderful thing to be inspired to settle differences while folding a quilt.

I belong to the local quilt club... If there is a quilt club in your area, it should be easy to find them and when they have a meeting; take your quilt there; or to a good quilt shop; and ask. If your quilt needs repair or modification (such as enlarging) they should be able to steer you right to someone who can do so AND how much it will cost. My local club, some members will do quilt repair or modifications.

OR. Get a new quilt made and take the old one and use it for display/decoration.

My mother was a lifelong quilter, belonged to several quilt guilds throughout her life, and had formed a 'friendship group' of quilters that met weekly to quilt and share lunch during the last dozen or so years of her life. The result was a legacy she left me of many full-size quilts and wall hangings. She passed away about six years ago and there were parts of a quilt I found in her sewing room that she was working on. I gave them to my best friend who is also a quilter. Glenna finished the quilt that was made of reproduction fabrics and gave it to me the following Christmas. It's gorgeous and I cherish it not just for it's beauty but for the love that it represents. This is the Prarie Rose wall hanging quilt my mom made for me when I graduated college. Having recently moved, most of my collection of beautiful quilts are packed away but will soon find themselves scattered about the walls and furnishings of our new house. As my friend Glenna has advised, the best tribute to a quilter's hard work is to use the quilts. And so I will.

I have 2, both made by my grandmother. Funnily enough they're the "Grandmother's Garden" pattern. I also have an unfinished top of the same patter. Every so often I think about finishing it off. (I even have a quilter's frame to make the final quilting easier).

Beautiful stove the in picture that accompanies the article. I'd like to know more about it... refurbished "5 O'clock" stove?

All this quilt talk inspired me to pull out one of my mom's. I placed it on top of our everyday modern quilt. It is a little small for our king sized bed but love the weight of it on a chilly night.

I just gave my mom's quilt to my niece but still have pictures of it. She made this when she was 12 years old and it is all stories from the Bible and in the right corner is her name and the age she made it.

Hammerhugger, what a lovely redwork quilt!

@ Daybreakworkroom.... I usually pay to have my quilts quilted by someone with a 'longarm'. You still have to bind it, but. Ask the quilty people or at a good quilt shop, they know everyone that will quilt for $ and probably be able to show you their preferred quilter's work on their own quilts. Only downside is it may take some months to send it off and get it back.

@jn3344, I also encourage you to go to a good quilt shop or the local quilt group/guild with your quilt. There may be some way to repair it or recycle salvageable parts.

My hubby's maternal grandmother made him a quilt in high school; and by the time I seen it it had gone sideways, as in literally rotted to shreds. I was able to gather some of it and piece together ONE block, using replacement fabric to fill in the backing (it was sort of a wedding ring pattern done a strange way) and hand faked the zig zag stitch she'd used to applique the fabric strips that arced, down. It was a long time with a large embroidery hoop. Then built that into a 'bed foot' to go across the bottom few feet of the bed to look like a folded blanket, you remove it to sleep. His mother treasured that I had labored to save some of that quilt; he is happy to still have that quilt around. And I had done this before I started quilting... it just seemed something that had to be done...

Years ago, my mother-in-law gave us a quilt that was found in HER mother's belongings when she passed away. Unfortunately, I wasn't "into" quilts at the time and don't remember if there was a history behind it (no signature block). The quilt appears to be the North Carolina lily pattern. The background is white and the leaves are green; the strange thing is the flowers are also white! Can find no indication that the flowers were ever any color other than white, so it looks very weird with curvy green leaves and no flowers! It was hand quilted, but at some point in time was reworked because the binding was stitched by machine. Had planned to put it on our bed when we moved into our new home, but we could hear the threads snapping when we pulled the blanket up. So it now hangs high on our wall (and I really want to applique some colored flowers over the white ones!).

I have a small quilt from my mother-in-law that we will put on the end of the bed in the guest room. My sister-in-law just gave me her mom's photo album. There is a picture of my mother and father-in-law opening their wedding presents and one of them is that very quilt! I am going to hang that picture in the room as well.

Defever, is it this?

This is the older pattern, this quilt was hand sewn and hand quilted, and is labeled circa 1850, but the fabrics ARE post aniline dye so it's post 1851. I would put it as pre Civil War, probably 1855-1859.

The pattern is very similar. The hand stitching in mine is nowhere near as elaborate as the photo above. Unfortunately my quilt is hanging high on my bedroom wall (cathedral ceilings) so I could not get anymore of a close up. Doesn't it look goofy without the colored flower? The flower design is pieced, just no sign whatsoever that they ever had color (and since the green looks good, one would think the flower would have retained its color, too)!

What beautiful stories!

Started a quilt myself (completely by hand, no machine), but have not finished it yet, due to our diy home remodel. Also want to learn to crochet, because I love these granny square spreads.

We received a Pendleton Wool blanket as a wedding gift 30 years ago. That blanket has gone through the stages of our lives with us: picnics for two, cuddling in front of a fire, spread out on the floor to hold baby and toys, keeping us warm at many soccer games...In the winter it lives in my car in case of emergency. I have had it dry cleaned just a few times and it looks like new. Not a quilt but a very important blanket!

It is heartwarming to read all the "quilt story's"with many good photos. They are as much about the under valued folk-ART, as about tradition, friendship, love and family pride. Thank you all.