Memory Quilt - Mom's Clothing
 

I saved alot of my Mom's clothing after she passed away a year and a half ago with the intentions of making memory quilts for me and my two brothers. It took some time for me to get into the right "mind set" to do the task but just this past weekend I FINALLY got up the nerve to sort through the bins. There are alot of rayon/cotton blends, poly/cotton blends, some knits, and a few sweatshirts adorned with her beloved butterflies. Of course, I did find some cotton pajamas, but not as much as I was hoping for. Do I even bother using the non-cotton clothing?? Would you recommend using a stabilizer?

Wish I could help you, Ive never used those materials in a quilt but sounds like a lovely idea.

I did one for my best friend from her mom's blouses. They were all poly cotton and very sheer. I backed them with muslin. I woild use anything with with a cotton or cotton blend. Probably not the knits, but i bet there is a way to do it.

A good stabilizer is Pellon SF 101 - it is an iron on which adds nice stability to fabric. I've never worked with those blends either so can't offer any advise on that.

I made a tshirt quilt from t shirts and turtlenecks for a family after their mom died. I used woven fabric for the sashing strips and backed the knits with non stretch interfacing. Then I tied it. I bet if you interfaced the stretchy fabrics and thin ones, you could mix them up in a quilt.

I have worked with some of the fabrics... some I actually fuse to a muslin to make them more workable. Lots of different fusibles to suit the different fabrics. Unless there is a fabric that is really a dry clean only, its only a matter of getting them to play well in the construction process and the durability. I find using fusibles can cure just about anything. One good thing about fusing some fabrics is it really cuts down on the raveling !

I used all my mom's clothes - knit PJ's, stretchy shirts, jeans, pants. Fused Pellon 906F on the back of the stretch stuff and it worked great!

I also saved the party dresses from my mom and planned to do a crazy quilt with all type of fabrics. I thought of using muslim so I sew to it the different fabrics. I haven't started.
Good luck

I think that you can use all of the fabric. A strip quilt using a muslin backing for your blocks could work very nice. It really doesn't matter if all the fabrics are the same kind. Just use the muslin to stabilize and quilt randomly. When I made one and took it to my older aunts they told so many stories that the fabric reminded them of, it was delightful. Try not to stress about it just remember good memories of you Mother and share your experiences. :)

do a foundation string quilt you can use any fabric.