QUILTS: WHAT'S SO SPECIAL?

Quilts are wonderful things. They keep us warm, are beautiful to look at, bring back old memories and help us to create new one. They are just so very .....well SPECIAL! I know that quilts take time to make - some up to hundreds of hours - and our first though is to hide them away to keep them safe. However, quilts are meant to be used. So don't lock them away in the back of your closet or in a box in your attic. Don't go out and buy expensive boxes and special paper to wrap them up in, so that they will be safe for others to enjoy hopefully years down the road. OK, i know that lots of people are grasping for breathe about now. So let me say this....If you must store your quilt, then yes, it's a good ideal to do everything that you can to protect them. OK, you can breath again. But truely the best place for a quilt to be is on your bed. USE THEM! They really will enhance your lives a little every day. you may not realize it, but they do. And by using them, others may get the chance to see them and enjoy them as well. Tell them the story of your quilt. Every quilt has a story - your great, great granny made it or it was just something that you threw together out of your scraps. Whatever the story, by telling it to others, you realize just how very special quilts are. so please USE THEM!

OK, you've decided to drag your quilt out of hidding and have headed towards the bed, quilt rack, etc.... all of a sudden you stop dead in your tracks and think: What if it gets dirty? the husband, the kids, the dog, the cat...... then you start back to put it into hiding again, never to see daylight for several more years. First and formost, quilts were meant to be used and they will get dirty. That's life. So like everything else, adjust. If you quilt was made by your great great granny, you might not want to put it on your kid's bed, or even your own. So hang it on a quilt rack or drape over the stair rail, over the back of a chair that rarely used, or hang it on the wall, or....well you'll find a place. Just keep it out of direct sunlight and away from areas of traffic flow in your house. You'll be surprised at what just having it out and about the house will do. You'll come to love it even more. So do you take less care of one that you just put together using your old scraps....No, not really. Listen, you'll have quilts that you will absolutely treasure and then you'll have quilts that you'd hate to see the dog chew on, but.... well you know. Whichever the case maybe, the quilts will get dirty!  Accept that and go on. i guess about now, you all are wondering a couple of things: What are they selling and What's with the don't wash them part. First i'm not selling anything and as for the second part, here it goes.

DON'T WASH THEM......AT LEAST NOT OFTEN!

Washing quilts is the main cause of wear and tear on your quilt and will go a long way toward determining the life of your quilt. So, now your headed back toward the closet. LOL. So, let me say again, quilts are meant to be used and will get dirty. The trouble starts with this day and time. Washing machines are wonderful inventions, however they are a beast on your quilts (and other fabric items). Add that to the fact that most of us feel that everything must be washed and washed to be clean. However, the truth of the matter is that we've kinda gotten into an overkill mode. Quilts if used on your bed everyday, should only be washed once a year or even less. I hear that grasping sound again. But it's true. If you keep something between your body and the quilt...like a sheet or blanket...then your quilt should only be washed about once a year. The sheet or blanket will need to be washed more often because they absorb the sweat and oils from your body instead of your quilt. Now some of you are thinking that's all well and good, but.....your picturing the kids using it for a tent, or hubby (or yourself) sprawled across the top of your quilt asleep, or Jr. curled up on the floor with the quilt in front of the TV and where Jr. is there's always Spot....or....There's always and or....it's called Life. Eventually your going to have to wash your quilt, whether it's used everyday or just hanging on a rack. It will have to be washed. So now your thinking; "Is she every going to get to the point of all this?"  Yes, i am. I'm just long winded by nature. What i'm wanting to get across is this.....There is a neat little way of cleaning your quilts (also comfortors, pillows, etc...) without actually washing them. Maybe not cleaning, let's say freshing them without having to put them thru the wear and tear of a washing machine. The next time that you are headed toward the Washer with you quilt, angle off toward your dryer instead. Yes, the dryer. Place your quilt in the dryer along with a couple of tennis balls and a couple of dryer sheets.. Did she say tennis balls? YEP! tennis balls. if you've ever seen an old western movie, then you've probably seen a woman with a broom or stick beating on a quilt. Tennis balls work the same way, just save the sore muscles in your arms. While in the dryer the tennis balls knock against the quilt, knocking dust, dirt, pet hairs, etc...off your quilt and your dryer sucks all that right up out of the way. The dryer sheets will be go to work on any scents and smells that is trapped in your quilt. This process will also "fluff up" your quilt as well. After about 10 minutes you will end up with a cleaner, fluffier, just washed smelling quilt without actually having exposed your quilt to the dreaded washing machine and save yourself some time as well. Now i realize that this will not work for every occasions, eventually all quilts will have to be washed. But if this will work 2/3 of the time, you've added years to the life of your quilt. All of us must realize that not every quilt will survive a 100+ years, but if we take care of them....they'll last alot longer. Add this little trick to using care (whether by special products or good old common sense) when we do actually have to wash our quilts, they'll be around to enrich our lives longer. And you never know, your quilt just might be one of those special few which actually will still be keeping someone warm 100 years from now. So bring your quilts out of hiding and use them.

PS. just a little footnote. Whether's it's your great, great granny's quilt or not, please make sure that the quilt is marked. If you know who make the quilt and about what year, then please put this information on the quilt somewhere. Even if you don't know who actually make the quilt, you know where you got it or how you came by it - put this infomration on the quilt. This information might add money value to your quilt or it might not. It will always add sentimential value  - thru family connections, shared memories, etc... and will certainly add to the quilts story.