Have you ever heard a story about a person who saw a quilt with a label on it at a charity shop and they bought it and then searched for the owner or maker in order to give it back to them?

Well, I have. I’ve had mixed feelings about it.

Would I do that?

Should I do that?

What if there are stories behind the quilt that are best left untold?

What if I contact a maker and she feels nothing but sadness towards the quilt she gave away which was now given away or sold quite cheaply at a yard sale. Would it do more harm than good?

What if the recipient tells you, “Why did you want to give it back to me - I already got rid of it once?”

Needless to say, I read such stories of ‘rescue’ with conflicting emotions. Now I do even more.

Back to the post.

I think most of you realize that I’ve been giving quilts away now for years. If that is new information to you, well, that’s fine. I have. I don’t even know when I started. It’s been many years.

At first I did just a few large ones - truly ones I had as extra or that I made and didn’t know what to do with -

Here are a few of the first big ones I gave away back then that were quilted by machine (2012 - almost 10 years ago now). Previous to that, we tied them and I didn’t take individual photos.

In addition to ones I made, my friend, Fran, sent me baby ones to give away. Fran and her mom worked on them together and finished them and sent me literally boxes of finished baby quilts. Once her mom got unable to do the binding/finishing, she sent them to me unfinished. Since I was unsure how to do such a quilt - I actually started just asking Fran to send me the unfinished quilt tops and I would do the rest.

But…

Not that long ago in our local freecycle group apparently this quilt was offered up.

My friend, Ewa, snagged it for me. She told me she couldn’t resist when she saw the label.

So now I have this quilt - and I’m not sure what to do with it. It was obviously well loved.

I feel like it has had its best life. I’d guess that I gave this quilt away AT LEAST 10 years ago. Maybe more like 12 or 13. Maybe even as many as 15 years ago. I really don’t know.

Note - I know that Fran uses Walmart fabric, Marshall Dry Goods fabric, Joann’s and also quilt shop quality fabrics in her quilts. I think this one has held up the color quite well. It does look worn, but not all faded terribly. The ink in the supposedly permanent pen for fabric held up far worse than the quilt itself - but even that isn’t terrible considering how many times this probably got washed!

What would you do with it?

I’m kind of at a loss as to what to do. :)

I’m all ears. Please give me some ideas. Should I

• pass it on as is

• take it apart and add new fabrics to it to make it a large one

• take it apart and add second hand fabrics to it to make a large one

• find a new home for it with someone who has a baby and can use a floor quilt

• let my cat use it

• keep it and put it away for posterity - a record of what we used to do (I don’t have any others from this era which have been given back to me)

Any other advice? Please put your suggestion in the comments.

Thanks.

Have a great day wherever you are reading this! Thanks for coming along with me on my quilting/sewing journey!

Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store here!

Here’s one of the beauties we have!