Memory Quilt: Boxer Shorts & Bandanas

"Boxer Shorts," 77" x 91", made by Pam Geisel, March 2015

This is a custom memory quilt that I made using the customer's son's boxer shorts, bandanas, pajamas, shorts, dress shirts, and some home décor fabric that was left over from some curtains that they used to have.

The colored squares are 4.5" x 7" with two white pieces of fabric on either side of the short edge to make the basket weave effect. And even though they don't look like it at the top of the quilt, they are rectangular in shape, it's just that this quilt is to big to hang from the quilt stand!

Here's a close up:

The binding was made using the fabric from the sleeves of two of the plaid dress shirts. You can click on the photos to see them larger.

"Wedded Bliss" - made from a wedding dress

 

"Wedded Bliss", 58" x 58", July 2008

Five years ago (before I started blogging) Brandi got married. Because the wedding was close to Valentine's Day, and because her dress had red accents, her bridesmaids wore red. Later that year she contacted me about making a large wall hanging using her wedding dress, a bridesmaid's dress, and the flower girl's dress.

The wedding dress had lots of great beading which I was able to use in the quilt. It also had a lace-up corset in the back which Brandi wanted in the center.

The six hearts were paper pieced, each with different embellishments from the dresses.

A detail photo of the beading from the wedding dress.

Happy Valentine's Day! And Happy Anniversary Brandi!

Blue Ribbon Quilt

Blue Ribbon Quilt, 41" x 46", Nov. 2012

This quilt is made using ribbons that Hannah won at horse show competitions. She gave me over 150 ribbons but luckily I didn't have to use them all.

The most difficult part was dealing with the bulk. It was tricky arranging the ribbons temporarily to take photos to send to the client so she could approve the layout ideas.

Usually quilt tops are made by placing two pieces of fabric with the good sides together then sewing them together 1/4" from the edge. When you open them, the stitching can't be seen because the fabric folds to form a seam in the back. I didn't think the ribbons would work well being sewn together that way and folded back so once the final design was decided on, I layered the light green background fabric with some batting and the backing fabric then started attaching the ribbons to the top, so the stitching that holds down the ribbons is also the quilting.

Detail of the woven flat ribbons.

I started at the top. I wove the flat ribbons into groups that were 4 ribbons wide and 3 ribbons deep. I held them together temporarily with blue removable tape while I was sewing them down.

 

 Detail of the ribbons with rosettes.

Next I added the ribbons with rosettes. I started with the purple one in the top center then working on either side of that ribbon, I added the ribbons in descending order, sometimes leaving parts unsewn because the next ribbon needed to be tucked under it. I changed to my regular sewing foot instead of the walking foot normally used for quilting because the regular foot was smaller and allowed me to get closer to the rosettes. 

Once the center ribbons and the horizontal ribbons were in place I switched to my freemotion "hopping" foot which allowed me to zig in and out of the rosettes to make sure they were attached to the quilt.

The long brown and white ribbons, the medium-length green and purple ribbons, the center white ribbon, and the horizontal green ribbons were set aside until I did the ribbons with the medals.

 

Detail of the ribbons with medals.

I tried to do as much as the rosettes before I did the ribbons with the medals because I knew once I started those, the quilt would become more difficult to maneuver. Luckily these ribbons were attached going straight down. 

I sewed the one in the center to get it in the correct place then I moved to the left side and attached the three on the left, then did the long brown rosette and the green one above them. Then I did the three ribbons with medals on the right and the two rosettes above them. Then I finished adding the rest of the ones with medals.

 

Detail of the variegated thread.

Because of all the bright colored ribbons, I didn't want to have to change the thread color for every ribbon so I decided to use a variegated thread in rainbow colors which went from red to yellow to green to blue. Some of the rosettes were sewn with the variegated thread, while others were sewn down with a neutral thread, somewhat visible in the photo above around the white rosette.

Because of the weight of this quilt, which is 3.5 pounds, the hanging stick has two picture hangers attached to it, one one the left and one on the right side of the stick.

All photos can be viewed at a larger size by clicking on them.

Keepsake Quilts Made With Kids Clothing

 

"Baby Boy Blue", 31" x 25" 

I've made several T-shirt quilts and was thinking about making some quilts using baby and kids clothing. Since I don't have kids I asked my sister if she had some clothes that her kids have outgrown. I don't think I told her what I was going to do with them. 

 

So I made some samples quilts. I made one using 6 pieces of clothing her son wore. Just like his Daddy he wore lots of polo shirts and seemed to favor a blue and yellow color combination. I quilted over the shirts but I made sure that all of the pockets were left accessible.

"Sweet Pea", 27" x 32"

The pink one had 6 pieces of clothes her daughter had worn. The four shirts, the light purple row under "Big Sister" was from a pant leg and the wide strip in the middle with the flowers and cherries was the bottom of a dress that my sister loved.

Most of the embroidered parts were already on the clothing. I did cut out a few fun pieces that were on the sleeves and made them into patches that were appliqued in other places. 

 

"I've Been Very, Very Good", 25" x 25"

And there were even a few pieces of clothing that both kids wore for Christmas, so I thought it would be fun to make a Christmas-themed quilt.

With some of the tops that had snaps I left them so the snaps could be opened and left a secret message inside.

So guess what I gave my sister and brother-in-law for Christmas this year? Three quilts made with the clothes their kids had worn.

Like the T-shirt quilts, all the clothing was stabilized before it was cut and pieced together. The borders and bindings were made with cotton fabrics and pieced by machine. The quilts were machine quilted and all have hanging sleeves.