Grrr, Wanting Something for Nothing & No Appreciation for Fine Hand Quilting....A Rare Speckledhen

[DigMyChicks]

Okay, I'm ranting again and I'm sure some of you can relate to this. We don't do Christmas but the DH family does and they have an annual family dinner at one of the sisters houses. This year, I decided that since I have so many small projects from learning to machine quilt that I would make something for every family, just the annual gift, not necessarily Christmas (and I'm running out of room!) and I did. The single guys got crocheted hats, no big deal there. I have not given anyone in my family quilts for many years, not since my hand quilted, custom made things were tossed aside like garbage by a family member. This year, I went against my policy of "no quilts for family" and decided that how this went would determine if I ever did it again.

My 36 year old niece has a 4 year old son, an only child. She lives in Florida so I don't know how she allows him to act at her house. I gave most families a pretty machine quilted table runner. Hers was in reds and navy blues and "wintery", with birds on snow covered branches, in log cabin blocks as well as giving her little son a crocheted hat, which he loved and wore the rest of the day. 

I did not get even a simple "thank you", nada, and when I turned around during the chaotic mess of package-opening, I see this kid with the quilted table runner on the floor, upside down, running toy trucks on it. Yes, his mother was watching him. Me, if someone gave me something like that, even a store-bought one, I'd have snatched it away from my kid and told him in no uncertain terms that that was not how we treat our linens/whatever it is. Maybe I was raised differently, but this just really rubbed me the wrong way. I'm sure she didn't hear me but I said something like, "well, I never would have thought of that runner as a floor mat.". Heck, maybe that's what she thought it was, hard to say, but I made that, it took a few hours of hand work, even if it was machine quilted, and I felt it was very disrespectful. Again, no appreciation for someone's labor or consideration as they make something for you with their own two hands.

So, guess what I'm not doing next year? You got it. :/  

I wish I was your relative as I would appreciate it. My mom made each of us 12 kids a quilt plus all the grandkids. I still have mine and I treasure it. She made quillows for my boys which they liked so much they wore them out ...but they still have them. People who don't appreciate the work that goes into one doesn't deserve to have one!

 

[RickyDean]

RickyDean, welcome to BYC and my thread. No, it's open to everyone, not just ladies, so stick around. Both my husband and myself have super old quilts made by three of our four grandmothers. They cannot be used as the fabric is disintegrating but they are treasured nonetheless.

My friend Ellie in California works with wood. She made me the most gorgeous and perfect ink pen out of hickory wood. I am amazed at her skill every time I use that beautiful pen and I will treasure it always. She has three quilts from me, the first two, her spring/summer and her winter quilts, were hand quilted, but the last one was one I surprised her with this month to complete her seasonal collection (her fall quilt, a tad later than fall, but hey...). It's machine quilted now because of carpal tunnel, but she adores it. She is the only person in the world who has more than one quilt from me. She and others like her make up for all the others.

Thank you for the welcome! I guess my previous reply to this was lost in space so I will try again.
How awesome to have so many family heirlooms from
so many different Grandmas! I hope you have appreciative family to hand them down to when the time comes. What an incredible piece of history to receive from you! I can only imagine how much they mean to you both and how priceless they are.
I guess I'm old fashioned about things like that because I would much rather have a home made quilt
passed down to me rather than money or anything else. Family items that were used mean the most to me. Unfortunately, the only things that ever got passed down to me from family was some family photos and an old .410 single shot shotgun from my dads father. I have already passed it on to my oldest grandson with instructions to always keep it in the family. On the other hand, I have made and passed on many things to my kids and grandkids so they will have what I never really did, something to say this was made and/or belonged to my Dad or Grandpa. They always appreciate and seem to treasure it as I would have.
Again thank you for the welcome and allowing me to post in this thread.

 

[speckledhen]

I just want to chime in with sympathy for anyone who makes hand made things, and then has other people not appreciate it. I'm very sorry that happened, speckledhen... to show no respect for you at all when you had made a handmade gift like that. I make my living by braiding horsehair and making jewelry. I really understand how frustrating it can be. I mean, do they go into a store and insist they be able to buy that $3,000.00 big screen TV for $100.00? I think not.... there is a real lack of respect for handmade art, in some people. (Fortunately some really do appreciate it!)

This touches home with me because years ago, I had a bunch of ribbons that I'd won - for my fleeces and handspinning, my rabbits, my braiding and artwork etc. I decided to make a quilt out of them, even though I did not know how to sew, was terrified of sewing machines and had no idea how to make a quilt. Well. Long story short, it took me 3 and a half years to piece the top on that quilt... I still don't have the binding done, I'm still trying to learn how to do that part right so I can finally finish it. I SO appreciate the art of quilting now. It is not an easy thing at all.

Wow, that is an amazing project! I'd love to see that if you'd like to post a photo here.

I wish I was your relative as I would appreciate it. My mom made each of us 12 kids a quilt plus all the grandkids. I still have mine and I treasure it. She made quillows for my boys which they liked so much they wore them out ...but they still have them. People who don't appreciate the work that goes into one doesn't deserve to have one!

Quilting is a dying art, especially hand quilting. I'm an expert hand quilter, just learning this year to do it by machine because my carpal tunnel has made it very unpleasant to do fine hand work. But, I design my own pieces and I do color well, I think. If people like me and you don't exist, it will die out.

Thank you for the welcome! I guess my previous reply to this was lost in space so I will try again.
How awesome to have so many family heirlooms from
so many different Grandmas! I hope you have appreciative family to hand them down to when the time comes. What an incredible piece of history to receive from you! I can only imagine how much they mean to you both and how priceless they are.
I guess I'm old fashioned about things like that because I would much rather have a home made quilt
passed down to me rather than money or anything else. Family items that were used mean the most to me. Unfortunately, the only things that ever got passed down to me from family was some family photos and an old .410 single shot shotgun from my dads father. I have already passed it on to my oldest grandson with instructions to always keep it in the family. On the other hand, I have made and passed on many things to my kids and grandkids so they will have what I never really did, something to say this was made and/or belonged to my Dad or Grandpa. They always appreciate and seem to treasure it as I would have.
Again thank you for the welcome and allowing me to post in this thread.

My husband is the same way. His father gave him a family heirloom before he passed on, an old fiddle that was used at barn dances. He had a fiddle expert repair it and was learning to play on it, still is taking lessons. Our families were not well off so those things are all we have.

 

[RickyDean]

Wow, that is an amazing project! I'd love to see that if you'd like to post a photo here.

Quilting is a dying art, especially hand quilting. I'm an expert hand quilter, just learning this year to do it by machine because my carpal tunnel has made it very unpleasant to do fine hand work. But, I design my own pieces and I do color well, I think. If people like me and you don't exist, it will die out.

My husband is the same way.  His father gave him a family heirloom before he passed on, an old fiddle that was used at barn dances. He had a fiddle expert repair it and was learning to play on it, still is taking lessons. Our families were not well off so those things are all we have.

Maybe thats what it is. Not ever having much. We didn't either when I was a kid and I guess it seems each generation gets more and
more to the point things just don't mean that much to them anymore. Really I think I could sum it up that way. Having too many things
distract from the really important things nowdays.

Heck I remember my grandparents would come to town every wednesday night and bring us two dozen eggs and several fryers. That was
also supplemented with other things grandma would can such as pear and apple butter and all the different pickled veggies she
made too. We really depended on that to get by throughout the week for food. Then before they left, grandma would come into our bedrooms
since we had to be in bed by 8:30 pm, and they wouldn't leave until 9:30 pm or so, and give me and my brothers a dime. We looked
forward to that dime every wednesday night lol. But we always should our appreciation, thanks and gratitute to grandma for all she did
for us. My memories of them and their farm are treasures I will always have.

 

[speckledhen]

Maybe thats what it is. Not ever having much. We didn't either when I was a kid and I guess it seems each generation gets more and
more to the point things just don't mean that much to them anymore. Really I think I could sum it up that way. Having too many things
distract from the really important things nowdays.

Heck I remember my grandparents would come to town every wednesday night and bring us two dozen eggs and several fryers. That was
also supplemented with other things grandma would can such as pear and apple butter and all the different pickled veggies she
made too. We really depended on that to get by throughout the week for food. Then before they left, grandma would come into our bedrooms
since we had to be in bed by 8:30 pm, and they wouldn't leave until 9:30 pm or so, and give me and my brothers a dime. We looked
forward to that dime every wednesday night lol. But we always should our appreciation, thanks and gratitute to grandma for all she did
for us. My memories of them and their farm are treasures I will always have.

My dad was raised on a farm. My grandfather lived to be over 100 years old and was on that farm until his late 90's, a good while after my grandmother died. I went south today to my late father's house to continue helping my sister clear out his basement. We also did the attic. I brought back 3, count 'em, THREE, antique quilts, all in pretty decent shape. Will show you all when I unload the vehicle tomorrow. I'm sure they were all done by his mother, not my mother's mother.

 

[speckledhen]

I got two of them out of the SUV. They were likely made to go on the iron frame beds at my grandparents' farm, by my grandmother.

 

[Zoomie]

What a treasure trove!

They are gorgeous! I'm so glad you got them.

I really love the look of the second one. It looks like it has lots of different fabrics in it.

 

[speckledhen]

What a treasure trove!

They are gorgeous! I'm so glad you got them.

I really love the look of the second one. It looks like it has lots of different fabrics in it.

Thanks, I'm happy also and thrilled that they are intact as they are. The 3rd one is in the tumbler pattern, very colorful, will post that tomorrow when we unload the car.

Zoomie, you are in a gorgeous area of the country, lucky you. Thanks for checking in on my thread.

 

[RickyDean]

My oh my! I don' have the words to describe how beautiful those quilts are! What a find. Like buried treasure! So happy for you to be able to receive something like that and share it with the rest of us envious folks. lol Absolutely beautiful. What a quilter your grandmother must have been.

 

[DigMyChicks]

I got two of them out of the SUV. They were likely made to go on the iron frame beds at my grandparents' farm, by my grandmother.

BEAUTIFUL!! I have several beds they would look great on...