Memory Quilt #6

I have been making a series of memory quilts using my father's shirts.  When my dad passed away four years ago, I took all of his plaid and striped sport shirts with the intention of making quilts for his children (my sisters and me) and grandchildren (two grandsons & two granddaughters).  It has taken me a few years, but I've made quilts for everyone but myself.  I added the final border to quilt number six today.

 

The center of the quilt is a Carpenter's Wheel block with a nautical-themed antique map as the neutral fabric.  I used the same arrangement for quilt number five.

 

After making 4 of these HST zig-zag borders, I've got the process streamlined.  I still love zig-zag borders, I just don't think I want to make any for awhile!

 

Like quilt number five, this one also has a sand dollar print border, but in a darker shade of blue.  Quilts five and six are for my nieces who live at the beach, so I'm happy the quilt weaves their lives with his.

 

I love this picture - the girls are helping Poppy with his garden.  I think I will make a photo-transfer of this picture as part of the quilt label. 

 

 

 

Memories in Plaids and Stripes

The memory quilts have come out to play again!

 

The last time I wrote about my memory quilt project, I had completed the center Carpenter's Wheel medallion for a 5th quilt.   In this picture, the Carpenter's Wheel is pinned on top of another completed memory quilt top, so I could see if I liked the result.  The next step was making more HSTs for another zig-zag border.

 

However, as I was digging through the bin of fabrics I had stashed for this project, I found another antique map fabric I knew would be perfect for this quilt!  

The fabric features a host of imaginative  nautical images, which will be great because this quilt and the next one will be for my nieces who live at the beach.

  

 I ripped apart the original Carpenter's Wheel block and remade it with the nautical map fabric.  I added the darker gold inner border last night.  The HSTs for the zig-zag border were already pieced and I got them pinned in place - now I just need to stitch them.  I have some sand dollar print fabric for the outer border and that will complete quilt #5!

 

One of my favorite pictures of my dad & me!  He would've celebrated 84 years this week.  It's good to have great family memories!

Memory Quilt: version 3

I've been working on the third memory quilt made from my dad's shirts.  Versions 1 & 2 can be seen here.

I'm just kind of making this up as I go along.  My initial inspiration was to use half-square triangles to form square-in-a-square type blocks.  I also wanted to experiment with using a zig-zag border.  Since I already had lots of HSTs, I just played with those until I had a zig-zag I liked.  Of course, making it up as you go along sometimes creates design flaws...or are they planned design elements?

Can you see the flaw?

I have to make more HSTs for the bottom row.  Once I've got that laid out I'll decide if I can live with the flaw...er, design element.

Memory Quilts

Today is the second anniversary of my dad's passing.  Although he's been on my mind a great deal in the past few days, I didn't realize until just a little while ago that today was the actual anniversary.  I guess I've been honoring him in my own way though, because I've been working on memory quilts made from my dad's shirts.

When Dad died, Mom wasn't sure what to do with his closet FULL of plaid and striped shirts.  I eventually brought home two trash bags full of shirts and began cutting them up for quilts.  Inspired by Bonnie Hunter's Scraps & Shirttails (and her other books as well), I pieced two quilt tops made almost entirely of shirting fabrics.

The first top completed was inspired by Bonnie's Star Struck pattern (the pattern is called Star Gazing in the book and includes sashing, cornerstones and a pieced border).  I added some greens and neutrals I pulled from my stash.  In some cases, the light vs dark values of the shirting fabric don't provide a lot of contrast, so you may have to squint a little to see the stars!

Among other things, my dad was an avid fisherman.  

Arlan Bowen, late 1960s

I found some great novelty fish prints for the back of the Star Struck quilt.

And Cindy Braiwick, my long-arm quilting collaborator, added wonderful quilted fish and other sealife to the quilt top.

For the next quilt, I was determined to use only shirting fabrics, as the pile of fabric seemed to be growing instead of shrinking. I chose Blue Ridge Beauty from Adventures in Leaders and Enders for my inspiration.

I've tweaked the colors here to try to give a truer representation, but it's hard to get dark blues to show up properly.  The outer border is a navy blue Quilter's Linen from Robert Kaufman Fabrics.

The pattern is made up from four-patches and half-square triangles set in a barn-raising formation.

Dad playing guitar at the Sopchoppy (FL) Senior Center, 2009.  His buddy, Roger Walton, is playing banjo.

My dad was also a musician; largely self-taught and not a professional, but he loved to play the guitar and sing.  After retirement, he found a group of like-minded individuals, and they played together every Friday morning at the local senior center.

I thought this Michael Miller "Jam Session" fabric would make a great back for this particular quilt.  It is now with Cindy Braiwick; I can't wait to see what magic she creates with her quilting!

After making those two memory quilts, I needed a little break from all that plaid fabric!  I focused on some other projects and finished up several other UFOs.  But about a week ago, the plaid started talking to me again and yesterday I started playing with design arrangements.  I need to make at least five (!) more quilts so all the children and grandchildren can have their own.  That's a lot of memories to share!