I've hesitated over the years to write about this special quilt I had the honor of creating. It comes from a very sad time for our family and especially for Mason's mom and dad. When Mason was just 2 months old SIDs took him from us and we mourned deeply. We take comfort in knowing that Mason is safe in the presence of the Lord Christ Jesus. A few years after his passing I approached my Sister-in-law and asked her if I could make a memory quilt from Mason's clothing for them. I was truly humbled that she entrusted these precious clothing items and blankets into my hands.
On our next visit I received the items and took them home with me to create a precious quilt.
It didn't take me long to realize that I didn't want to cut these items up into smaller pieces to create a sampler type of quilt that I had originally planned. The clothes were so tiny they needed to remain as they were. The one request my Sister-in-law made when she gave me the items was to incorporate the puppy dog quilt, which was a gift from a dear friend, in the center of this larger quilt.
It didn't take me long to realize that I didn't want to cut these items up into smaller pieces to create a sampler type of quilt that I had originally planned. The clothes were so tiny they needed to remain as they were. The one request my Sister-in-law made when she gave me the items was to incorporate the puppy dog quilt, which was a gift from a dear friend, in the center of this larger quilt.
Step one was to carefully prepare the puppy dog quilt so it could be used as the center block. Since I had chosen to use the blankets as the background fabric for the clothing items it was a matter of deciding how best to lay everything out, which took a bit of experimentation. I didn't want to cut into anything before knowing what sizes I really needed, I didn't want to regret a single cut I was going to make into these precious items, so I started by folding the blankets into approximate block sizes that would work with each clothing item and laid them out around the center quilt block.
The only fabric I added to the quilt top was a strip of yellow as the background for Mason's name to be appliqued onto it. With the yellow name stripe in place and a little more rearranging I was ready to start cutting the blankets into the perfect sizes and adding stabilizer to back of each one.
The clothing and name were first backed with Heat n Bond, ironed into place, then appliqued in place with a close zig-zag stitch.
To create Mason's name I used fabric from one of his blankets.
To keep the clothing and blankets the star of the quilt I choose to do a simple meander around the clothing.
For the binding I chose to use the same yellow fabric I had used as the background behind Mason's name.
Finished are ready for an emotional delivery.
The day of delivery was truly a bittersweet day. Surrounded by family and friends the quilt was presented, tears were shed once again as we remembered sweet little Mason's life with us and how much he is truly missed. I pray that this quilt offers comfort and hope to my dear sister-in-law and her husband.
Quilt Stats:
Quilt Name: "Mason's Memory Quilt"
Batting: Heirloom Premium Cotton 80/20 Blend
Quilting Thread: 50wt. Aurifil
Quilting: Free Motion Quilted using my Husqvarna Sapphire 875Q domestic sewing machine
Thank you for stopping by and sharing in my quilting journey!
Happy Quilting and God Bless,
Marcia
Marcia
