Little Pink Rose Quilting & Sewing : Memory Quilt

Showing posts with label Memory Quilt. Show all posts

March 1, 2018

Lunden's Memory Quilt {A Finish}

When a friend contacted me asking if I could make a memory quilt for her dear friend whose child had recently passed away from of course I accepted such an honor.

I was thrilled to find the perfect border fabrics on the shop shelves, it was as if it were meant to be.

If you've been reading my blog for very long you already know that I'm using the Too Cool T-shirt Quilt method for the cutting and piecing of these quilts.

Normally I don't add any stabilizer to the blocks when I do t-shirt quilts, but in this collection of clothing items were a few pieces that really needed to be stabilized. One was a satin that was just raveled too much with it, another was a seersucker fabric that seemed to stretch when you looked at it, and last was a thin eyelet fabric that was especially thin and needed a little more weight to stand up to being quilted and loved.

For the blocks I choose to keep the little hat and the bib whole using pieces from other items as the background piece for these applique blocks. Then there were several pockets, bows, embroidery designs, and special tags that I fussy cut to create adorable and meaningful blocks.

When it came to quilting the clothing blocks I choose to use a combination of butterflies and flowers intermixed among continuous swirls, it all seemed sweet and perfect for a little girl's memory quilt.

Love the swirls and paisley's for the border design.

On every label I offer space for the giver to add a special note to the recipient.
One can never fail with Scripture.

Such a sweet quilt.

Quilting Stats:

Quilt Name: "In Loving Memory of Lunden"

Finished size: 56-1/2" x 60-1/2""

Quilt Pattern: Too Cool T-Shirt Quilts

Batting: Heirloom Premium Batting 80/20 Blend

Quilting Thread: 50wt. Aurifil - White #2024, Blossom Pink #2530

Quilting: Free Motion Quilted using Artistic Quilter SD18

Thank you for stopping by and sharing in my quilting journey!

Happy Quilting and God Bless,
Marcia

February 23, 2018

A Memory Quilt for Mason

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.

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

August 26, 2014

A Memorible Memory Quilt {A Finish}

I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged about this quilt and what all I've been up to lately!

Time just passes much too quickly, especially when I get busy. I'm sure you understand and have experienced this yourself. Before I dive into my next quilting project I wanted to be sure and share with you my most recent finish. I love how this quilt turned out!

Brent's Memory Quilt that I had been working on was one of those quilts that I wanted to be extra special for his family and I poured an exorbitant (huge, enormous) amount of time into this quilt.

Custom Memory Quilt
With Custom Trapunto Work and Free Motion Quilting

I asked Melissa to share a little about Brent and her thoughts on this quilt, which is what I want to share today.

Here is what Melissa said and the pics she sent:

"Our 18 year old son was tragically killed in an auto accident in May of 2013, having just graduated our home-school high school and celebrating that accomplishment just 3 days earlier. After a few weeks of trying to process the whole thing in our minds, we knew we wanted to somehow preserve Brent's flannel shirts - one of his favorite things to wear. We thought a quilt would be a wonderful way to utilize the clothing in a tribute that would also serve to be useful.

In cruising the internet looking for ideas, I knew what I did not want: a quilt with big blocks of shirt: that just wouldn't be "him", nor something he would like. He didn't have a T- shirts collection of significant events in his life, or anything that would really lend itself well to that type of design. He was a young man that loved the outdoors in a major way: he loved to ski, hunt, ride motorcycles & ATV's, and most of all - he loved people. He loved to help others (he was a Jr. Firefighter, and left "Jr" status when he turned 18 earlier in the year), and he enjoyed spending time not only with his age mates, but with everyone from kids to the elderly. His "quirk", I guess you would call it, was that as much as he loved to be totally involved with something, he did NOT want to have attention called to him: he wanted to do his thing but remain in the background when possible.

Then it struck me: his quilt needed to be one where the shirts themselves were not the star attraction, but that the pieces of them were integral in contributing their flair into the overall design.

I began looking for quilts that might seem to fit this idea, and came across Little Pink Rose. One of the beautiful quilts jumped off the screen at me: the details and design spoke as much as the colors and the fabric. I felt a "connection" and a surge of hope.

I contacted Marcia and shared our story & what we were looking for, asking if she would be available for custom work, and to work with us on a design. Working with Marcia was such a joy! She listened to my ideas, and considered my preferences, and worked to make the quilt an amazing representation of Brent's life and memory. Those who have seen the quilt in person marvel at the workmanship, and remark at how she managed to capture the essence of Brent's life in fabric and stitching. (And I know that it would get Brent's grin and nod of approval, and probably a, "Wow - that's pretty cool...")

Words can't adequately express how much we appreciate all the TLC and careful thought and planning that went into the creation of this quilt. That kind of crafting ability is a gift from God! And we have a wonderful keepsake, made from our boy's favorite shirts, which expresses his personality, love of life and the outdoors."