Ask Penny Halgren

We were honored to have Judy Lyons, a Certified Quilt Appraiser, participate in our Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation.

In the call, Judy shared with us how to know what makes a quilt valuable. Here are her thoughts:

That’s a very broad and wide-ranging question. Determining value is as of a specific date. Value needs to be justified. With that said, consideration, investigation and calculation of value all need to be determined. You need to ask if it’s for insurance, is it a donation or are you searching for an asking price to buy or sell. What goes into the quilt needs to be identified.

A historical quilt has a lot of provenance. It may be ugly but have top value. We may see a beautiful art quilt. The maker has won major awards and shows. The maker has established a record of sales. If they can prove that her quilts are being sold for the dollar amount, then that is a value that can be proven.

My quilts would never be considered very valuable quilts. My quilts have value because I have made them. I purchased the fabric. I’ve put a lot of dollars and time into this quilt. It is a quilt of value. All quilts have value. It is where the quilter fits on the scale, the amount of work put into the quilt and all of the background.

The other thing is where it will be sold. Will it bring top value? Is it in a small store in the country where few people visit the gallery, or is it downtown New York City or Toronto, or in California where there are people there who will put out the funds? There are many factors that come into play when you talk value.