The Memory Quilt {Getting Started}
I know I’m the sentimental type. When I was dressing Lydia in one of the dresses I made for Norah I realized why people cut up their children’s clothes to make quilts. I have lovely memories of sewing the dress, Norah wearing it, and now Lydia wearing it too. So, I decided to start a memory quilt. But, instead of cutting up well-worn clothes later, I decided to go through my scraps and make quilt blocks out of the fabric I’ve used.
The blocks are 8 1/2″ square, unfinished. The one on the left is from a pillowcase my mom made for Silas, and the one on the right is backing and binding from his twin bed quilt.
These blocks are from Norah’s toddler quilt and her first birthday dress.
My goal will be to make up a block every time I sew something special for the little ones, and then someday I can look back on this quilt and enjoy the memories, without wishing I’d saved this or that, because I’ve done the work along the way.
Do you do anything special with your scraps from special projects? Have you ever made a memory quilt? I’d love to hear about it!
Yes, I have started to cut and ‘plan’ what blocks to make with some old memory fabrics, but looking at yours – you have such a knack for putting the right colors together to make each block stand out. Years ago, my mother handed us (my husband and I) two ‘beach’ quilts from left-over scraps of many of her and my sewing projects. I enjoy them more and more, the older I get, as each Fabric piece has a story it seems behind it. Your children too, will treasure the memory quilt you are making!
My mother was not a quilter but she made a lot of clothes for my sister and me and many of those scraps wound up in a quilt made by my grandmother. It was fun to look at that quilt and remember dresses that had been made for special occasions or just a particularly favorite ‘back to school’ item. Sadly, I don’t have that quilt anymore. Wish I did.
Don’t forget to make two of your memory quilts. Someday your kids will each want their own. 😀
A lovely idea to save and recall their children and grandchildren! Each piece is a moment! Adorable!
This is a lovely idea, to go though your fabrics and use ones you made the children’s dresses from for a memory quilt. It also means you can save those pretty dresses for other babies to wear! I think it is amazing how a piece of fabric can bring back a memory of certain times years later!
Happy weekend!
Helen xox
My part time job is piecing T-shirt quilts and memory quilts for a friend’s business. The problem with that is I can’t throw any of my son’s clothes away, because I know they’ll make a great quilt!
I am planning to make a quilt with my girls’ clothes too. I consign a lot of them, but it was so hard and I was really having trouble letting go of some of their things. So I realized if I made a quilt, I could justify saving a LOT of their clothes! Silly maybe, but it’s working. I have been cutting squares as I go, kind of like you, but not piecing anything. Just cutting out the squares. Making a block at a time like this is a great idea. I should do that!