Quilts Hold Value, Remain Popular, Says Dealer Marie Miller

Quilt dealer Marie Miller called to give us an update on the Vermont Antiques Dealer’s Association show. This was the first year for the show in Woodstock, Vermont, moved from its former location in Manchester, Vermont.

Miller says she has done the show every year and met with success this year selling an array of signature quilts, furniture and smalls. Other dealers she talked to seemed to also be happy with the show.

The quilts Miller specializes in date from the 1930s back to the 1860s.

“They’re works of arts really,” Miller says adding that for a quilt the artistry as well as the condition as well as the over-all impact distinguishes quilts made largely for Sundays and special occasions.

“A lot of these quilts were made and stored in blanket boxes not used,” Miller says. “Women made a lot more quilts than they needed. These were better quilts, used Sundays only, not everyday quilts.”

Miller says the quilts in her inventory that numbers in the 200-300 range average $500-$600, with an entry level at around $200, prices that have remained somewhat constant in recent years.

“They’ve been holding their value,” She says. “With the economy right now not much is going up in value. Quilts have held their value and gone up prior to the economic downturn.”

You can find Marie Miller at five other antique shows throughout the year including Holiday Antiques Show (VA), Antiques at Music Valley (VA), the Rhinebeck Antiques Fair (NY), the Heartland Antique Show (IN) and Bromley Mountain Antiques Show (VT).

The shows are becoming fewer in number, she says, as dealers cut out the lesser shows as a simple survival measure. “A lot have gone by the wayside,” she says. “It’s the economy.”

Luckily, quilts at least have remained popular. “They can be used in so many ways,” Miller says. “People use them on walls as art, as bed covers or over sofas. They really make a room.”