I love this group. Other than my mother and the quilt guild I recently joined, none of my sisters or friends quilt.

I can share my quilting triumphs, conundrums, and woes with all of you and you will celebrate, solve, and/or lament with me.

I imagine that most of you are in the same situation that I'm in. So you too come to this quilting community to share as well.

Over the time I've spent here, there have been numerous posts about gifting quilts and whether or not people are quilt worthy. I think many quilters seem to forget that everyone has their own tastes, aes​thet​ic, and wants.

One Christmas, my mother decided to gift my siblings and I with Christmas table runners that were insulated so that hot serving dishes could be placed on them.

My mother's tastes are not my own, and not my siblings. Her choice of fabrics and patterns are not to our tastes. Also, she rushes through things as she likes to hurry up and finish things and that shows in her work. I have never used that runner, and probably never will.

One of my sisters was gifted a quilt by my mother and it doesn't even match anything in her house. So she leaves it in a cabinet for when someone is chilly while watching TV. My mother is put out that my sister doesn't display it draped over her couch.

I told my mother not to make me any quilts as I can make my own. I did end up gifting a quilt to my mother as she gushed over a quilt I was making. I thought the quilt was ugly, she thought it was beautiful. My workmanship was spot on, but I would never display that ugly thing in my house.

I've never made any other quilts for family members as they have not expressed any interest in receiving them. However, my sister loves a quilt I've been working on since last September. I love it too, however, I may make her one once I've finished with it, depending on her reaction when she sees the finished quilt.

Just because we enjoy quilting does not mean that our loved ones and friends love our hobby too. To continue to express upset over giving quilts that are not well received is rather narcissistic.

I have never gifted anyone a quilt for a wedding, birthday, Christmas, or any other high point in their life. No one has ever said, rather than getting me something from my gift registry, I'd rather you make me a quilt.

When my nieces and nephews graduated from high school and college, the idea of spending hundreds of dollars on fabric to make then a quilt, rather than giving them that money, never once occurred to me. They all used the money for college or for paying down their loans after graduating.

Quilting is a great hobby. I love it, it makes me happy. There was an 'I' and a 'me' there, as it's about me and what I like. I do not force my hobby on others.

I'm not trying to be mean or nasty, just trying to put some perspective on finished projects. There are so many different quilting charities that can use completed quilts. You may never know who has your quilt, but it is an almost certainty that it will be loved and cherished by the recipient. That can bring you joy, rather than gifting to family and friends that have zero interest and have it balled up in a closet somewhere.

That is just my two cents. Stepping down off my soap box now.

EDIT: I had to include this post by u/Acceptable-Oil8156 as this explains exactly what I was alluding to:

"My dad was a fabulously talented artist - watercolor as well as acrylic and oils. He once told me he never gifted his art to anyone for this very reason. Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. It’s a hard lesson to learn - that everything one makes may not be anyone else’s cup of tea, and it’s really not worth the energy to take that as a personal rejection."

Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. Trying to force your quilt [art] on others when they are not interested in quilts is an exercise in futility and hurt feelings.