Giving Away Quilts

Recently I decided that I own way too many quilts. Most of what I make is for donation to charities, but occasionally I will keep a quilt for our household. I had not noticed that the number of "keeps" was getting quite high -- so many that we couldn't possibly use them all. Therefore I decided to give some away, and let me tell you, it was SUPER FUN!

I took some with me to our Thanksgiving gathering and offered them to my nieces and others. To be honest, I was surprised at how happy they were to choose a quilt from the pile. It was fun for me to watch.

Nieces and my first-cousin-once-removed

Next I sent this one to a former co-worker. I knew she would be blown away. She always has the nicest comments about my quilts, but never in a million years thought I would send her one. I sent her this artsy one that seemed to be her favorite style. This is what she said on Facebook:
When an old (as in, from long ago) friend makes and gifts you a *perfect,* GORGEOUS, exactly-you quilt just out of the blue (pun only partly intended) and for no particular reason other than she’s amazing...OMG, Carol! *T*H*A*N*K* *Y*O*U*!!!

Then she changed her Facebook profile picture to this one, with the following caption:
The amazing Carol Egan made this for my Human. I know. I can’t believe it, either.

Then I sent this one to an old (as in, from long ago) - [see how I borrowed the above person's wording?] - friend from high school days. She is also a quilter, so it's not that she needed a quilt from me. I just wanted to communicate my appreciation of her, and this more traditional pattern seemed right, in my mind, for her. There's even a block that says "I love quilting," appropriate for her.

And finally I sent these two quilts, along with some other gifts and supplies for Christmas, to Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.

This was surprisingly fun and satisfying for me. I recommend it! Do you have a pile of quilts not being used? Try surprising people with the gift of a quilt. They and you will have a blast.