IT_Nana

I lost a dear friend 2 years ago to cancer. Last year her first grandchild was born, and her daughter has asked me and another friend to make a baby quilt out of some of the clothes she had saved from her Mother. I'm attaching a picture of the fabrics. The group on the right is cotton and cotton/poly blends ... jammie pants and blouses and all stripes. The group on the left is cotton knit tops. I'm frustrated because 1) I've never used stripes in a quilt and 2) I don't think I can use the cotton knits, without possibly ironing interfacing on to the backs of all fabric, and I don't know how that would hold up.

Any suggestions/comments/guidance you can offer is very appreciated. Also, the friend who is going to be "helping" me knows very little about quilts. How can I include her in this project?

CarrieC

I haven't a clue how to help you with stabilizers etc.

I like stripes. You have to cut careful, but you can do some neat things with them - not that I'm suggesting this but I've done a test of HSTs with the stripes alternating direction. It was interesting.

As for including your friend - you may have to do the designing and sewing but she could help cut off buttons, pull seams, iron, organize. As you stitch a block or whatever, she could cut the block and then iron the seam. She could also give you valuable input into how it looks etc.

I wish you a great deal of luck and hope we can see the finished project!

feline fanatic

I would highly recommend using a lightweight fusible interfacing on the knits. Pellon makes several weights. It is a bit challenging when sewing the cotton to the knit then pressing the seam flat but it can be done. Be careful with the blends, sometimes the high heat from your iron will "glaze" or even start to melt them. Using a pressing cloth, such as a piece of muslin will help to protect them.

I think your friends daughter will love and cherish this quilt no matter what you do so don't fret too much about the stripes not lining up or being straight. I think that adds visual interest. Spend some time browsing Kaffe Fassets patchwork gallery, he does such fun stuff with stripes.

http://www.kaffefassett.com/Patchwork.html

romanojg

How about doing a 3D pinwheel? The fabric would be good for it and with the knit maybe a few applique animals on the back of the quilt or if you put sashing in between the blocks the way I did you could use the knit for applique in the sashings. My grand daughter loves her 3D pinwheel. I used white as the background to put the pinwheels on. There is a great tutorial on here from a few years ago that was so easy for me to follow. Good luck.

Sewflower

Bonnie Hunter does scrap quilts from shirts. Her web site is: www.quiltville.com take a look and maybe get an idea

ckcowl

check out *search* t-shirt quilts for some ideas---a lightweight fusable interfacing would make all of the fabrics very usable.

IT_Nana

I had thought about a pinwheel quilt. I just made one for my 14 year old granddaughter in wild colors so it would be easy. However, I'd never seen the 3D pinwheel. I like that idea and it would work well with the colors I have, too. Thanks for the suggestion!

IT_Nana

Thanks for the suggestions. That's a good idea for her to take the garments apart and also help with the cutting. I appreciate it.

IT_Nana

That's a great website. Thanks for suggesting it. And you are right ... I'm sure my late friend's daughter will love whatever we put together. She knows absolutely nothing about quilting or fabric... as evidenced by some of the sweaters and silk shirts she included in the bag. ;-} I'm looking upon this as a tribute to her mother and I'm putting more pressure on myself that anyone else is!