Memorial Quilt
On Christmas Day my daughter-in-law's mother died. She asked me to make a memory quilt out of her mother's clothes for her father. I was honored... She was adament that only her mother's clothes be used on the quilt top, and her favorite clothes used repeatedly throughout. I had pictures of her mother printed on cotton at Spoonflower. After she realized that there would be quilting through her mother's face on the quilt, she decided not to use them. I surprised her with the pictures on a pillow instead because it wouldn't require any quilting on them. I used her nightgowns and pajamas around the pictures.
It was such a puzzle trying to get everything on the quilt the way she wanted. She rejected my first attempts that I spent hours designing. I was totally stressed because I didn't want to ruin her Mom's clothes with something she didn't want. She had no clue how a quilt is made, but she knew what she wanted. Meanwhile, my son is in the background repeatedly saying "This isn't one of your show quilts Mom." and "Do we have to get someone else to do it? Eyeroll... not helpful.
In the end I got a text from her after she gave it to her father: "Thank you so much! You truly exceeded my expectations! I really appreciate all of your hard work! It is absolutely amazing!!!"
They took a video of her Dad receiving the quilt and pillow. All he could say was "How did she do this?" He called me later that night to thank me in tears. He had been married to her for 52 years.
It turns out this quilt was the hardest and most rewarding quilt I have ever made.