twinkie

About three years ago I made a "watercolor" wall hanging of the crosses on Mount Calvary. It was my first and it was sure not very good.

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Then I thought I would try to make one for my church.

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This is how it turned out.

Here is the problem. One of the couples in our church lost their sister about a year ago. She came to me and asked if I could do a wall hanging out of her sisters clothes that she could give to another sister as a gift. I had thought about doing one with a garden and a fence with a gate. Then put her sisters picture in the sky. When I received the material scraps of clothing, they were nightgowns out of stretchie knit material, silky materials that frey terribly when they are cut. I had told them that I used cotton material to make my squares. It took them about 8 months to give me the clothes scraps (they were pieces cut very uneven and included the buttons and necklines plus pillow cases). They were brought just before Halloween. I work full time and told them I had a lot of gifts to make for CHRISTmas and they said they were not in a hurry.

Now for the real problem. The materials are very plain (bland) in color, some are stripes, some are polka dots, some are cartoon characters and some are just solid bland colors. I am just having a terrible time finding what I can create with these. HELP!!!

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They want it to be about 30 x 30 and they want to frame it.

QuiltingHaven

Okay, you know it is going to be a wall hanging, that helps because you know that there won't be a lot of hugging, pulling, washing, etc. I would put a stabilizer on the stretchy stuff and go for it. You might also check your stash and add just a bit of fabric that would help in organizing the the picture a tad better. And you can tell them that you added some fabric to highlight the family's contribution fabrics plus letting them know that you added just a few fabrics to put your signature quilting fabrics. Just a thought. Lay it out and move it about and go for it. It is actually the fabric of the loved one that they want to pass through the family and that is the important thing. Go for it, Twinkie!!! And please share it with us when you are finished.

ckcowl

First off, use a lightweight fusible stabilizer on the back of the stretchy, slippery, light weight fabrics. That will keep them (stable), keep them from fraying and stretching as you work with them. Then ( throw out your preconceived vision and look at the fabrics with ( new eyes) they are lovely and can be used for any number of lovely wall hanging type quilt blocks. With ( fresh eyes visit google images, flickr, pinterest and look at * memory quilts* and quilted wall hangings. You will find new inspiration and possibly the perfect idea for your quilt. I think your biggest problem is you had a preconceived notion of what you were going to do then when the fabrics arrived they were not what you envisioned- so, you need to just table the first plan & move on. Even check the pictures category here on the board- search memory quilts. There are many to help inspire you

Jitterbug

Just a thought to add to the other suggestions, maybe a scanned photo of the deceased on fabric as the center of the wall hanging, then somehow working the fabrics in around it. Maybe nine patches resembling crosses? In any case, wishing you good luck with it. By the way, I like the first one of the three crosses on Calvary just as much as the one for the Church. I would love it on my wall.

twinkie

Thank you ladies so much. I guess I just don't have enough confidence in my ability. I will do some searching on the net to find if I see any layouts that catch my eye. I like the idea of the stabilizer also. Thanks again.

ragamuffin

I saw within the last few months a quilt made out of someone's clothes. I believe one patch was of gathered fabric, one of lace over fabric, one made with tucks, one with gathers and sewed like a child's fine dress (I can't remember the method, brain freeze). I would consider the cross or perhaps her initial. You could always embroider her name and dates. Hope this helps.

cathyvv

See if you can find a relatively large "Eeyore" square/fabric and frame it with the scraps. If you want, add a thin black stripe between the "Eeyore" and the scraps and between each row of scraps that frame it. If you have enough scraps, then sew them together and use them for finding.

DonnaPBradshaw

I would never do a quilt for someone who chose their own fabric! It's a recipe for disaster in my opinion.

Betty Boop

I did several of these about 5 years ago for a friend. They wanted several small quilts and also had specific pockets, etc. that they wanted incorporated. I used light fusible on a lot of the material, (even some of the cottons) as they were thin. I did not have a specific pattern that they wanted, so I used a 9 patch and it worked really well. I probably would not take on such a project again, but they were pleased with the results.

twinkie

Betty Boop, thanks for your comment. Did they give you a free run with the project? My friends want a "scenery" layout.