Milwaukee quilter Cortney Heimerl knows her quilts won't last forever. She's okay with that.

"If you don't use a quilt, you can preserve it and the quilt will last more than a lifetime. But if you begin to use it, that small pressure of fabric between fingertips and fabric laying across laps will slowly wear it out. If you really use a quilt and you sleep with it or use it to mop your tears up during a sad movie or drape it on someone you love when they are sick, it turns into something else. It develops this patina of use, which I think is beautiful," she says.