Wardrobe Quilt
 

My friends father died last week. He had Alzheimer's and she took care of him for 15yrs. She would like to have a quilt made out of his clothing. ( Not his ties ). I have never heard of this, but can see how it would be possible. Any suggestions or advice ?

You might check out this link - she does baby wardrobe quilts - but it may give you some ideas.

http://www.feelslikehomeblog.com/201...-baby-clothes/

Also check out Bonnie Hunter's website - she shows how to cut up mens clothing and then makes scrappy quilts.

The design will depend on the type of clothing -- men's dress shirts, plaid shirts, t-shirts, and you can include the pants, too. Then, do you want large pieces of the clothing, or do you want it cut up and made into quilt blocks. The links her are some good examples of square blocks of clothing with sashing. If you want to make quilt blocks, then choose a block or two. The pants might make good sashing. Since the clothes are probably part polyester, I'd probably use a polyester batting, probably light weight, although any weight would work.

I quilter in our group made a quilt with her husbands shirts by cutting out squares and joined together. Some had a pocket left. She appliquéd hearts on. She was amazed that his shirts were so coordinated. What she loved most was snuggling in it and smelling his after shave still on the pieces. She tops it up these days.

I have also seen grandma fan made with the ties.

You should check out Sylvania Quilting - www.sylvaniaquilting.com. Jan is a longarmer who specializes in memorial quilts and she does beautiful work at a reasonable price.

No connection - just a happy customer!

Here is a link to a quilt I made using my dad's plaid flannel shirts. There were not enough of them for a bed size quilt so I added some additional flannel.

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2013/...laid-love.html

I just finished one for my best friend from her mother's blouses. They were poly cotton. I did a QAYG and appliqued hearts in each block. She loves it and i found that i really enjoyed making it.

My Father died several year ago after 16 years of illness, during which my DM took care of him 24 hrs a day. I took his western shirts and years of pjs and cut most of them in 2 1/2" strips for a log cabin. I still have issues every time I open the tote full of strips and some larges pieces. Cannot seem to start due to all my memories. Also have a box of my DM's clothing to cut for quilt and have the same problem. Can you tell I was VERY close to my parents?

My cousin who's a quilter from beginning to end made a beautiful quilt out of her husband's underpants. The whole family was happy with it. The husband's daughter was the recipient of the quilt. She helped with his care from throat cancer which was very quick. My cousin has made quilts from his clothing for everyone of his children. Every piece of material has a story attached. She had photos and whoever was in the photo with them at the time was the recipient of what ever he had on at that time. She took their wedding clothes and made a quilt from them for herself. She said she had happy tears the whole time she made the quilts.

Don't feel bad about that. It took me 3 years to make mine. I'd take the clothes out, look at them, tear up, and put them away. Over and over again. It will come. And once you've cut those clothes up, it's much, much easier to look at it as "fabric" than your dear father's things. Keep one thing in mind: If you're making this for your mom, just think how much she would adore being able to cuddle and console herself under that quilt. That's what kept me going when I made mine for my brother, sisters, and aunts. I've made 5, and have one more left to do for my youngest sister. Here's the label with the poem I made up that I put on each quilt:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]421413[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]421413[/ATTACH]

Oh shoot. Sorry. I don't know why that picture posted twice!!

Oh dear. I didn't see that your mom passed away, too. I'm so sorry!

Thanks so much everyone for all your wonderful ideas. Much appreciated!

One more for inspiration:

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...mg.i2xM5w056X8

Thanks for asking this question..I was approached last month by a lady that lost her 20 year old daughter. She wanted me to make a memory quilt for her from her daughters clothing. I told her I would have to give it some thought. I had never heard of such a thing....

A friend of mine's DH passed too and I was asked to do the same thing. This is what I made for her.

I had this same problem with a quilt for my DGS that I was hand appliqueing at my DM's bedside when she was ill. I just can't start on it without thinking of her and getting emotional. My DB and quilting buddy said she would finish the blocks and put it together for me. Then I can quilt it myself. That is really going to be a lot easier for me

I have a friend who took her husband's shirts and made a baby quilt for each one of his daughter's first baby. He died quickly and young, even before his girls married. The quilts were made by the daughter's step-mother (my friend). I thought it was such a thoughtful generous gesture to her step-daughters.

I have a bag of some of my dad's shirts.. I haven't cut into them, as I don't know what I want to do.. My mom donated most of his clothes. I am okay with that, as there are too many people that can use clothes.. The shirts in the bag smell like dad.. It's a little spooky..

I have made three quilts using old clothes. I recommend making a crazy quilt. This way you can use everything. The more textures and colours you use the more interesting your quilt. Make sure you wash everything! You can use an old sheet for your foundation for your blocks. The thrift store is also a good source. Just make sure it's really thin. Sorry I can post my pictures as I don't have them with me.

Here's two memorial quilts I've made from my mom's clothes. I wasn't sharp enough at the time to get dad's clothes when he passed away - so we added the only thing we had...a sweatshirt jacket (I still regret not getting his clothes). This one I gave to my brother - simple, not "girlie". I also used this same pattern for my aunts (her sisters):
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And this one I gave to my sister:
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The flowers are made from dad's sweatshirt in my sisters and the blocks surrounding it are mom's clothes. The rectangles were from her jeans. I incorporated the sweatshirt into the center blocks in my brother's.

Cindi - they both are beautiful! I haven't thought of doing that until this thread. Thankfully my parents are still both alive and doing well in their mid-80s. TFS!

I had a friend that made a quilt from her brother that passed away shirts. She just cut the front into about a 10" block, leaving the buttons and the front pocket if it had one on it and sew it together with a sashing in between. It was very nice

Cindi, those are beautiful!

Here's a quilt my sister and I made with our nephew's shirts and pants. His son loves it.

I made one for my aunt who is 90 yrs old now when my uncle (her husband died) he was 96yrs old. I made it out of his old jeans. It's a rag quilt with flannel on the back. I embroidered their names, along with their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren names on it. She is the one who inspired me to quilt. She hand pieced and hand quilted all her quilts. She loves it and shows it to everyone comes to her home. It is my avaitar.

Clothing quilts
 

I made 3 small quilts from a lady's clothing. Stretchy walmart pullovers, denim shirts with embroidery, and lightweight jeans (stretchy)

cut sections from clothing ( bigger than the size square. Use very lightweight stabilizer and iron piece onto stabilizer. Cut your block . I pieced some to make the fabrics go further. I left the collars and buttons on. You can sew them together with or without sashing, but if you use sashing, put stabilizer on it too so all pieces fit right. I quilted manually on my longarm, just outlined all the collars and buttoned fronts. And then freehanded rest of it. Came out very nice! You CAN do it! Keep in mind it will be heavier so make a smallish one if you can........Good luck!!!

When my stepson died some of his clothes were made into cambray bears. His mom got his cowboy hat, which she keeps in a plastic bag, so that she can pull it out and still smell her son. We forget how very personal these items are and how they are such a touchstone to the one that is gone. The cambray bears were appreciated, but family members would have prefered them, unwashed, before it was made.

I recently made a memory quilt using the Warm Wishes pattern, very easy, but effective. I used neutral black and grey for the strippy blocks and the clothing squares for the squares. The clothing was made from various fabrics so I stabilized them all with a lightweight woven (yes, woven, because it's softer) stabilizer.

Cindi, thank you for your thoughts. Your quilts are great! I love the flower idea! I Will get these quilts made! I took another step toward DD's. I planned a log cabin. He farmed and worked county roads all his life and I wanted something related to include. He loved growing things and our nature around us. I found a beautiful fabric with quail pics to make insert blocks. Now I'm getting more inspired to do this! (As soon as I finish a quilt for DGS! Just needs the quilting!)

Look under the Picture section of this forum for Shirt and Tie Wall hanging....I think it was posted yesterday...I just finished trimming 73 cotton button up shirts of my DH to make quilts..My husband passed away May 16th....I want to make a quilt for my 2 grown sons and a grandaughter and a grandson and my husbands sister and one for me....
We had been married 53 yrs...It is giving me great comfort to do this..we were soul mates....any tears I may shed will be of the wonderful memories of our 57 years together....(since I was 13)

I love the pattern I was speaking about above and hope to use it





























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(((((HUGS)))))) I'm so sorry for your loss, BB! I pray that the quilts you make will be healing and comorting for you!

what is a cambray bears?
I haven't heard of this kind of bear before.
thanks myra