AndiR

Thank you for all of the great ideas. And for the photos that several of you posted - your quilts are lovely and I'm sure will be treasured. Carreen, I love all the little personal touches you added.

This will be a long-term project and a learning experience for me, so if anyone has more suggestions, keep 'em coming.

My sympathies to you who have lost a family member way too young

davis2se

I recently made 3 memorial quilts. One each for 2 sister's whose Dad died very suddenly and unexpectedly last Jan, and one for their Mom (that was a surprise for her). They sent me about 30 of his shirts - all sort of tropical themed, and none 100% cotton. I was just stumped about how to proceed, and scared that the final quilts would not be what they were hoping for. I wound up cutting apart each shirt (after washing and ironing) and then cutting each one into as many 5.5 inch blocks as I could. After that I just designed 3 different quilts out of the blocks. The one for the Mom was my favorite. I did a large heart design out of one of the lighter colored shirts, and then surrounded it inside and outside with darker blocks. I put pictures of the girls and the Mom with their Dad/Husband on the back along with the labels. I backed them with just black fleece, and thankfully they were all absolutely thrilled with the quilts.

Good luck with yours. Someone on this board gave me words of encouragement when I was sort of paralyzed before starting them. She told me that no matter the design, the family would love them as a constant reminder of their dear Dad/Husband. She was right!!

Bennie

I made 2 memory quilts using my DH's cotton dress/sport shirts. I made one in a pinwheel pattern and one in a rail fence pattern. The rail fence went to my wonderful son and I kept the pinwheel. I think almost any scrappy pattern would work.

alisonquilts

I made three memorial quilts for a client whose mother had died, and I used a combination of the fabrics from her mother's old clothes and fabric from my stash. Only a few of the items of clothing were cotton - the others were synthetic knits, polyester prints, rayon, you name it. I carefully took each item apart, saving any special pieces (like embroidered emblems etc) and made sorted piles by color. I then designed three separate, and utterly distinct, queen-sized quilts to incorporate as much of the fabric as I could. I stabilized the stretchier fabrics with spray starch (most would not have survived the heat required to use fusible interfacing, because they were non-iron fabrics). By surrounding the non-cottons with the added fabric from my stash I kept the tops from becoming too distorted. The rest of the process I did like any other quilt - poly batting, cotton backing, cotton binding.

The three quilts were commissioned items, and took me nearly a year to finish (which I had predicted to my client when she requested them!) She had given me complete "artistic freedom" to play with the fabric, and I am pleased to report that she was very happy with the outcome, even thought the third quilt (not shown below) was a rather wild modern take on a crazy quilt!

Good luck with yours. I'm sure whatever you decide to do will be greatly appreciated!

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AndiR

alisonquilts, I wish I could see the photos, but for some reason they're not showing up. Your quilts sound great. I did let my niece and nephew know it might be a year or so until I finish these, I know they are going to be so much more work than working with yardage.

linda8450

I am not sure if you plan a crazy patch look or a 9 patch, etc. but I have seen several methods that I enjoyed. Using a button-front shirt, the quilt maker incorporated that part of the shirt/blouse and left it buttoned in the square. Also used a pocket, embroidered collar, several sleeves with cuffs. One added a seperate pillow made from a blouse with a frilly buttoned front, basically cut a square out of the front and back, stitched it all around, turned it right side out and added a pillow form and buttoned it up. It was precious! Don't know if she used a stabalizer, but it couldn't hurt. Any of the scarves could be tied in a soft knot and stitched onto another fabric at the ends of the fabric (knot in the middle) and presented that way, or just twisted a time or two, instead of just flat. I like the tactile effect. Linda

kat13

Hi Andi, I've made several memory quilts, my first was small and had alot of shirts to work with..hardest
part for me was color and getting the quilt to flow..but my mom loves it and now she has alzheimers so the
quilt helps her to remember. I like to use alot of applique, for me that is easier. I'm now on my 5th memory
quilt so people must like them since they keep asking me to make them. I'll try to send pics but this is new
to me..

kat13

This is my last one I made for a wedding memory quilt...the photographer lost all their pictures so all the
guests turned in pics on facebook etc and I was able to make them a nice memory quilt. It also had squares
that the guests signed. Charisma did a great job on quilting it! I really like applique, gives you so many
things you can do! I am currently working on one for my cousin. They are really great to do and much
appreciated by the recipient. If you have any problems just let us know and we'll help you along!

lovequilts722

This thread has me all teary-eyed... this sort of thing is why I love quilting and quilts. So many memories are wrapped up in simple pieces of fabric. Off to get the kleenex's.

Candace

kat13

This was a little wall quilt for a new baby. I really love being able to put pictures on cloth!! My hubby
had come home and said a guy working with him had a new baby so I put this together in a few hours.
The pattern was in a magazine.
thanks for lookin