• Have you ever had your quilt appraised?

We are all attached to our treasured quilts……but the comment I hear most when talking to people about appraisal is….

"I don’t think it’s worth much"

Well honey, if you want to insure your quilt…. no matter what you
think the value is… you have to have it appraised before the
insurance company will pay out on a loss.

"Oh, does it cost to have it appraised"?

Hmm, yes, people have trained to get the expertise to appraise your quilt… it’s a service to you, you have to pay them for their services. In Australia I think most appraisers are associated with a Guild, and give their time voluntarily and the money goes to the Guild coffers.

"I don’t want people picking my quilt to pieces" !!!

Goodness who do you think the appraisers are, a group of blue rinsed ladies in an ancient church basement with quilting honor on their mind? Not so, they are highly trained quilters like you and I who appreciate that you are taking a professional stance in taking responsibility for the on going care of your quilt

The most common reason for appraisal is for insurance purposes.
The insurance company just needs the facts about the quilts at the time of loss.
The appraiser takes into consideration the way the quilt is made, the complexity, the fabric and the cost of replacement and that is in a written document given to the Insurance company.

In the USA appraisal also takes into consideration the history of the making of the quilt and the story behind it, for instance, is the quilt made by a professional Quilt maker who has sold quilts or won awards?…..
An appraiser will ask for a biography of the quilt maker and it will be attached to the records.

I don’t know if that is implemented in other states of Australia, but I haven’t heard of it being part of the appraisal here in SA.

I’m not certain if all Australian state guilds have appraisals, but I urge you to contact them to find out….. it’s
to your benefit….and besides, it is also provides valuable  archival documents of quilts made by Guild members over the years.

As a collector of vintage and Antique quilts I would love to have some of those documents for some of my quilts….

You put so much time and effort into your quilt… take the plunge and finish it off with appraisal and you will have a neat piece of paper to say you’re official…..!!!!!