What do you consider a "family heirloom"?

[MillauFr]

What if you boys have no children or turn into compulsive purgers? Our family doesn't have any heirlooms because I suffer from compulsive purging.

 

[barkley]

could your mother in law's sticking point be based on what type of quilts she purchased? my understanding is that the Amish market specific quilts under the title of 'heirloom quilts' which are intended to be gifted to younger generations and serve as heirlooms.

 

[leebee]

I think heirlooms are things that are passed down thru the generations, and I guess I think of an heirloom as something that is more inherited, not given as a present. Clearly that's what your MIL intends the quilts to become, but to call them heirlooms when they are given as "new" gifts isn't correct, IMO. I also agree with everyone... not a hill to die on.

I have my great grandmother's Queen Ann desk, my grandmother's bone china, my great aunt's stuffing spoon. I have memories of seeing/using all of these during my childhood and I love that every time I look at them, I remember these dear women. I also have my mother's wedding ring, which DD now wears on her right hand (as she has her own wedding ring for her left hand) and refers to it as "my nana ring."

 

[ronandannette]

I think you can buy a specific item with the hopes/intention that it will become an heirloom (they all must have come from somewhere originally), but that process takes generations. It's not a heirloom right off the shelf. And yours might actually never make it because both your sons have their own which ostensibly they would pass down to their own children. The quilts sound lovely though and I hope you enjoy them.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Calling the quilt an heirloom might be a subtle reminder to take good care of it so it lasts as opposed to using it to line a dog house. But even a cherished quilt eventually wears out if it's "well loved."

 

[leebee]

Calling the quilt an heirloom might be a subtle reminder to take good care of it so it lasts as opposed to using it to line a dog house. But even a cherished quilt eventually wears out if it's "well loved."

We just donated a quilt to a local cat shelter. My great grandmother made it, and it was, quite literally, falling apart. I had it repaired several times but it was to the point that the fabric just couldn't take it anymore, it was literally coming undone along the edges of each and every piece. I saved a piece about 8"x8" (finished the edges by hand) and donated the rest. It was cherished, it was well loved, and it was falling apart.