Quilts: Not Just a Keepsake for Your Mother's Generation | Hobbies

By SaraMusfeldt
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For three generations, the women in my family have been quilters. My mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother spent months under a lamp creating quilts one fine stitch at a time. Growing up, I didn't understand why they spent all that time making a quilt just to put it in a safe place where dust bunnies, little hands, and the sun couldn't reach it.

Now that I'm older and my grandmother and great-grandmother are gone, I do appreciate that time and I'm grateful for those memories and the quilts they've left behind. I understand now that the sun, dust, and my dirty hands would have ruined something they wanted my children and grandchildren to have.

Due to technological advances, quilting can now be produced in masses. Mass production, however, has increased the value of those custom-designed, handmade quilts from the days of yore. However, this brings up the question "What about those quilts from days of yore?"

There are still quilters that hand build quilts from beginning to end. That means the squares or other shapes of fabric are chosen with a purpose, or artistic statement in mind. The design and fabric that holds those shapes of fabric together are not held together for efficiency, but rather with that design in mind and with the long life of that quilt in mind too.

There are retailers and online vendors around that will create quilts for you cheap and fast. They may even allow you to choose where pieces of fabric will be placed on the quilt, the colors incorporated, and the design, but often times these types of quilts are rush jobs and look just like thousands of other quilts. If what you want is something long-lasting that clearly has been thought through with an artistic eye, then a custom hand made quilt is the better way to go.

A custom quilter can help you decide what colors and design will be best for your theme or idea. Since fiber artists put their names on such quilts, they obviously care that your quilt turns out beautifully. This will not be the case for a quilt that is mass-produced.

Although custom handmade quilts are more expensive and take longer to make than mass-produced quilts, this is the best option if you want a keepsake. You will get a beautiful quilt that will last so long that future generations will be able to hide this keepsake from the sun, dust bunnies, and the dirty hands of their children.

About the Author

About the author: Sara Musfeldt has been a fan of quilting art for many years. Sara is especially fond of t-shirt quilts, which make a great gift. Remember, a quality quilt lasts for generations.

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