JLD

I thought I had seen where there are folks that have made sampler type quilts with different blocks that tell the story of their life. Like where they have lived being married, ect.... Can anyone tell me where I can find out more info about this - I want to show it to my mom. I think she would love to make one. Thanks for your help.

ABCQuilt

Mimi Dietrich wrote a book on diary quilts. http://www.mimidietrich.com/book It is the first listed. You may be able to get it from your public library if you don't want to buy it.

dublb

What a great idea!!

SulaBug

Thank You for sharing this website with all of us. I see that each of us could make a wonderful quilt of memories!!

JLD

Thank you that is what I was looking for!!!!

Edie

Good Morning~! That is the only way I make my sampler quilts. You don't need a book. Use your heart. Check Quilter's Cache (I use 12" blocks), and pick the ones out that appeal to you. I try to have one color iin the blocks that will go with the rest of the blocks. For example, I am making one for my sister right now and her favorite color is teal blue. That is the main color, just a little bit in each block, but you know it's there. Then you design what fabrics you want to use. Leftovers, fat quarters, whatever you want to use is fine. My sister has a friend who has been going through chemo and I found a block called Carolyn's Star. It was absolutely perfect and the center of the star was an angel with a watering can in her hand (Carolyn loves her garden). Some of the names of the blocks are Grandmother's Cross (she is a grandmother), The Sister Star (I am her sister), Bear Tracks (that's for the bear that got into their porch and did a number on it) Four Winds (they live on a lake and the four winds blow), Walk Around (she walks a lot - exercise), Cedars of Lebanon (her husband is half Lebanese), Friendship Block (she belongs to a sewing club and these are her friends), Card Trick (my sister and her husband play cribbage every evening and in tournaments), The Minerva Star (that is named for the lake she lives on), Christmas Rising Star (that is her birthday block because she was born in December, Housewife (self-explanatory), Mother's Dream (she is a mother) Log Cabin, of course (that is the center block) for their home. This is what makes a sampler so much fun. Each square, each block is special to you and makes it more special to who you give it to, because she knows you know about her and that makes it ever so personal. I made one for myself - It is my memory quilt that takes me from the '30's to 2008 when I finished it. It had a block for when my husband was diagnosed with Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma and what he went through and the outcome (very good). It has the 50's with the colors of the 50's. I made a sampler for my mother and the center block was a block that she gave me and I gave back to her in a quilt that I made. (She cried at that one).

If you want to make one that has all the same colors throughout the sampler, that's great too. I did that for our 50th Anniversary Sampler. It turned out really nice, but it does not have the personality that the other ones do. I made a sampler (of my many colors) for the Susan G. Komen walk two years ago for a raffle - made over $2,000.

Also, one more thing, with each block that you make, write a story about it, why you did this, why you used this color, what the name of the block is, what it meant to you, throw in a recipe or a little story, or a poem or some adage or saying. Then when you give the quilt, you give the book, you give a part of yourself, you have provenance with the book and the quilt.

I am sorry if I took up so much time, but I am very passionate about sampler quilts and the way that I like to portray a life.

Not to get maudlin, but my Memory quilt will be on my casket in lieu of flowers. Good luck, please enjoy your travels to the world of Samplers. I am so totally hooked on samplers. The funny thing too, is that I can do the same block and they can look totally different the way you put them together colorwise. Edie

Shirls4sons

That is a wonderful post, Edie! I loved every word of it. You have made this so meaningful. I had not considered making one but now I want to!! I would love to have it to put on my casket enstead of flowers! Thank you for all you told us!!

ckcowl

also do a search for Journal quilts- there are a couple designers who have books/patterns and workshops to make journal quilts- which are along the lines of Mimi's Diary quilts-

and to answere the JLD question---sampler quilts?
a sampler quilt is one with all different blocks (a sampling) often done to learn how to make different blocks/techniques- each block is different-all put together in a way to bring it all together-
you can do a search of sampler quilts and find tons-
the Elenor Burns Underground Railroad is a good example of a sampler quilt

Quilt-Till-U-Wilt

I have a book called Quilted memories that I was just getting ready to list for sale. It's be Mary Lou Weidman. It's not so much about a sampler quilt but about but telling stories through quilts. Don't know if this is what you're interested in or not.

QandE2010

That is a great idea. Hopefully your Mom will make one for you. Edie, I have bookmarked this page, as You have excellent suggestions. Thanks for sharing.