Michelle’s Memory Quilt

Why hello there!

Week 2 of school holidays and I am feeling slightly crazy, which to be fair is not much different to normal. I try to keep myself to a good work routine but the reality is that with 3 children it is not always that easy, still I am managing to snatch as much time as I can and have managed to finish off and post 2 quilt orders plus start my next two customs. The hardest thing has actually been stealing time in front of the computer to write about all of them, mainly because our pc is right in the middle of the house which means noise. So much noise.

Today I am sharing another memory quilt, made for Michelle. Unlike Beau’s quilt this was a custom order commissioned by Michelle using the clothing of her 5 beautiful children. Such a precious keepsake to hold on to and really the perfect thing to do with the baby clothes you cant bear to part with. The premise to making the quilt is exactly the same as a memorial quilt meaning it takes a lot of time to get it right. I dont head in with any set pattern in mind I just work with the clothing I have. It doesn’t take long before a quilt design emerges and I am working to plan.

I made Michelle’s quilt to my standard throw size which is 150x150cm (60×60″) and that meant a lot of cutting. There is so much detail to be found in clothes and my main aim was to keep that featuring as much as possible. Frills, pockets, embellishments all feature and add depth and interest to the design. I try to use all the fabric in these quilts leaving minimal waste, in this instance that meant cutting down to tiny tiny strips to get the effect I needed.

Like I said – so much detail but what a statement it will make!

Like I mentioned Michelle has 5 children so we further personalised the quilt with their names. I appliqued on initials which had their names embroidered inside, such a sweet detail.

And this wee teddy bear square and embellishment? That is part of the outfit her eldest son came home from hospital nearly 19 years ago! I made sure it was front and centre of the quilt when she told me, a genuine piece of family history right there.

For quilting I went for stability first and foremost and quilted lines around 1.5″ apart. Because of the nature of the fabric it is so important to keep the quilt from distorting and stretching over time. I do quilting in 2 stages to prevent this happening and creates a lovely strong quilt that can be used and loved without worry. I backed in a gorgeous navy and white fabric from my stash and bound in a fun red spot binding. There was a lot of pink in the quilt and the red tied in perfectly with that and all the blues and greens from the boy’s clothes.

So there we have it – a gorgeous memory quilt for a lovely patient customer. I thoroughly enjoy making these because I understand the importance of these clothes. Michelle will be able to tell her children stories about every single square I am sure 🙂

Thank you so much for trusting me with your precious memories Michelle – I really hope I have done them justice for you.

xxx Sarah