Quilts that Talk; Quilts that Comfort

How do you best reflect the life of a person in a quilt when all you have are a select few pieced of apparel? Have you ever wondered what your clothes say about you? If someone was going to make a quilt from your clothes, what would it look like?

Sad circumstances had me making a memory quilt.

I approached it with some apprehension. I like working with colour but all of the clothes I had to work with were black and grey. The exception was a baby blanket that was yellow & white.

Cotton – the quilter’s dream fabric, but no cotton here. Only a variety of knits. T-shirts. Sweatshirts. Fleece. Knits with lace. Knits with embroidery. Knits with heat pressed vinyl. Knits with embellishments.

24 squares; 18 articles of clothing. I knew I would have to be creative and use everything I could – labels, sleeves tabs, logos, zippers, and even hems.

As I stitched, I thought of her. Evidence of life events were in my hands, and they felt sacred. I thought of her as a baby using the baby blanket, I thought of her as a teenager enjoying the Backstreet Boys, and I got a sense of the young woman she became. I felt like I got to know her just a little. That was an honour and a privilege.

I will not be providing a picture of the full quilt since a name appears on it, but here are pictures of different sections.

The back is soft and cuddly fleece. 

Did I have goals in making this quilt? I wanted it to be soft and cozy. I wanted it to be visually interesting. I wanted it to have texture – things to touch and play with. I hope I have done that. Hugs & love.