Hello,
I'm not sure how I found my way here but I'm glad I did. I really need some help from anyone. My father was recently admitted to a Senior Assisted Living Center in Columbus Ohio. I am his son and I have been living out here in California for the last 30years. After being layed off for the second time, I've suddenly woke up and realized 30yrs have past and I've only been home once. Working in Silicon Valley, life just seemed to fly by. Anyways, my daughter just had a great idea of "obtaining" a Patch Quilt and Ironing on photos of our family. Maybe 25 to 50 photos? I know I could just send him a Photo Album but I think he would love to have a quilt with all his grandkids pictures on it. And here comes my question....since I sew like a Guy with 5 Thumbs, does anyone know where I can buy a full size Patch Work Quilt that has Lots of blank spots all over it so that I can iron on the family photos?? Has anyone ever done this before?? Can quilts be purchased like this? Lord knows if I try to sew one, he'll be 109yrs old before I'm done. It doesn't have to be a fancy or expensive quilt, just one that has about blanks patches all over it for the photos. Any help would be greatly appreciated and I will definitely post a picture of the quilt before shipping it to him.

Thank you .....Ron

Hi and welcome. you might want to try e-bay or better yet esty.

it can be done but you can't buy it that way first things first you buy fabric sheets at a hobby lobby or somewhere like that (june taylor ) then you print your pictures on the sheets. then you put the sheets in a solution of fabric softener(downy) place them on a towel to dry then press them to set the ink
then you either put it together or find a quilter in your area to put it together for you don't make it too big or heavy too bad your so far away or i would love to help you with this. there are quilters on this board that are in your area

keep me posted

memathomas

I would try contacting your closest quilt guild, church quilting group or local quilt store. They all may know of a quilter who could help you with your request. The quilt could be a very simple one consisting of squares or rectangles alternating with the family photos. The photos can be directly printed on specially prepared fabric photo sheets (about $12 for three 8X11 sheets in Canada)cut to size and then stitched into your quilt as part of the overall design. Once the top is constructed, it could be machine quilted for a priceless, so thoughtful gift for your dad. Most communities have a quilting group and I hope you can find a quilter to help you out.

I think this is your best bet. None of my business :oops: but please go to see your dad if at all possible.

Hi Ron, I use Precious Memories in my printer to copy family photos---it's the easiest. You just print it, let it dry for one minute, pull the paper off, run it under cold water for 2 minutes and let it dry flat. The photos on the fabric don't fade any more than regular fabric and they don't bleed. Do an internet search for quilt quilds in your area and ask them to help. You will be swamped with ideas, prices and offers. Make sure that the time frame you wish it done in, the cost (quilted and bound), colors of fabric to be used, and anything else you can think of is spelled out in writing and signed. You are, afterall, contracting a service and both parties need to be protected. And as with anything else, you get what you pay for so the cheapest is not always the best. You also need to specify if you want it tied, machine quilted or hand quilted. Hope this helps.

I have seen quilt tops with blank white squares for sale on ebay. I think the seller usually has them listed and at a reasonable price. These would work for your iron-ons but you(or somebody) would still have to layer the quilt with a backing fabric and batting. This might be an option.

I think your best bet is to find a quilter in your area willing to do this for you.

The iron on type will not last through very many washings... and this quilt would also probably be handled a lot and folded, and this isn't good for iron ons either....I would go with the printed ones like the others have suggested :wink: I think you would be much happier with the final results.
Also, if buying a premade quilt, some fabrics don't allow the iron on's to adhere as well as others... You would need to look at the iron on packing for reccommendations.

This type of quilt would be very easy to make, and a perfect beginners quilt :D Even if there are a few oops, your dear dad won't care... he will be too busy looking at all of the pictures :D:D:D

Oh myyy goodness. What a wonderful group of people on this forum. Thank you all for the great ideas and suggestions. It looks like I now have some homework and research to do. Great, great ideas! I'm going to my daughters house tonight to help her install new doors throughout her house. (give me a hammer and a nail and I can install some doors, give me a needle and thread and I'll need a box of bandaids). I'll start picking out the pictures this week and looking for a quilting quild in our area. Its supposed to be in the 80's tomorrow, so maybe I'll go to the beach, sort through he pictures and do some soul searching as well. I learned a long time ago if you want someone to love it with all their heart, then you have to put all your heart into it.

Thanks again for some great advice and I'll be sure to post the finished quilt when its done and I'd like to include everyone's user name along the edging if thats ok with all. The more people looking over him the better.

Thanks ....Ron