At 32 I am a long way away from this (I hope ) but if something were to happen right now I would have my dh donate all my quilting fabric, supplies, and machines to the mission activities guild at my church. This fabulous group of older ladies meets on a regular basis and among the many things they do they make beautiful redwork quilts for baptism gifts at our church. I am fortunate to have one made by them for my son a few years ago. I think they also make quilts for charity too. They are always in need of supplies for their quilts, so I know my stuff will go to a good cause. Later in life I would hope my girls would take up quilting too, or I would have a DIL who is interested...

We have a local Christian school that would probably teach sewing if they had more machines. Consider donations to local small schools.

Here are some ideas for distributing your quilting collection of fabric, tools and machines:

If a local guild is in your area...perhaps this could be a place to start. Could the fabric be used for charity quilts? Tools can be donated to the guild...or even perhaps a small local group of quilters.
Machines can be sold and the money donated to your favorite charity.
Other organizations: girl scouts, 4-H clubs, senior centers, perhaps even local recreation centers would be able to use some items.

This past year a local fabric artist and quilting gal passed. She was young..in her 50s. Her daughter in law invited her close friends to come into her studio and help her. They took what they needed...and then it was open to invitation only for others. All the money was used for two scholarship funds in her name. I still remember the feeling being in her studio. I thought OH MY...all this great fabric and this great place...she never will be here again. At that point, I came home and was determined to manage my time and spend more time in my quilting space.

A local church quilting group was the gracious recipient of much of the fabric. They make hundreds of charity quilts a year. They had so much fabric donated...new shelves had to be built to hold it all!!! This group is well deserving of the gift of fabric.

FW

Wow, what an interesting topic.

My husband and I recently spent a lot of time disposing of an elderly relative's "treasures." She had no children, so I had to sort through all of her things, feeling very sad that I had no idea where her "treasures" should go. Funny, but it never occurred to me that after I go to quilter's heaven my quilting treasures will need similar attention. All these years, I've been the repository for all the orphaned sewing machines of friends and family. I treasure my mother's old Singer.

With no daughters, a son who hasn't a clue about this stuff and not a single niece who sews, I guess I've got some serious thinking to do. Thanks for the prompt.

gone

My DH has jokingly (?) threatened to rent a dumpster if I kick the bucket before him!!! He says that would be the easiest way to dispose of all my quilting and "nic-nacs" I have collected over the years. Fortunately, now that we have recently moved closer to our DD (who is not a quilter but I have plans to convert her!!) I have instructed her to make sure that doesn't happen. She does understand the value, both monetary and sentimental, of all my "quilt stuff"!!

Patricia
Newly transplanted to IL and braving the cold!

Have a quilter's will...one can be found here... http://quiltville.com/quilterswill.shtml

OK...this one was done tongue and cheek...but it is a good idea to let your loved ones know a quilter buddy who can make decisions to handle your quilting estate.
My husband has instructions of who to call if I should leave this earth. I also know who to call to handle his collection of stuff (which clearly is not as valuable as my stuff...LOL)

On a side note, my son and I were talking one afternoon. I was going thru family pictures and he was talking about all of his friends whose moms made scrapbooks for them as they grew.
I never really took the time to do that, but jokingly said at least you don't have the burden of hauling around scrapbooks for the rest of your life. (NO OFFENSE to scrapbooking folks!!) But he laughed and said at least he could SELL my quilts :shock: if he needed money.

FW

My husband has instructions to just close my door and wait for my lovely daughter in law to arrive and she will make the decisions. (Except for what my wonderful daughter, a non sewer, may wish to have.) I have no care about anything else that's mine, but my sewing room...that's another story!

my friend Wendy and I have a pact - we will administer each others rooms - because really - most people don't have a CLUE!

One of my best friends has said she's leaving it all to me to disburse as I see fit. In other words, I get first choice and then hand out the rest.
She's not going anywhere soon, I hope, so there's lots of time to keep building her stash.
Eileen Keane, NY

I really didn't know where to put this thread. You gotta hear this. My DH walked into my cluttered sewing room today and said, "What am I going to do with all of this stuff if you have a heart attack? It's nothing but RAGS", (as he was looking at my stash.) I started laughing so hard I couldn't think of a comeback.
So that got me thinking about who get my stuff. He said he would give it all to Goodwill. I guess we really need to write down the recipients of our books, patterns, sewing machine, tools, and all of the fabric we have so lovingly accumulated over the years. Can you imagine all of the money that is invested in that room? Judy in AZ where it is sprinkling today