Mom's Memory Quilt

 

I just finished the binding on my mom's memory quilt.

This quilt was made from a selection of my late stepfather's clothes that my mom hand-picked to become a special quilt for her to remember her husband.

It turns out the colors my mom picked were mostly shades of blue, from a favorite pair of blue jeans to blue plaids, stripes, and checks - as well as a white shirt. The inspiration for the design came from an illustration I have clipped to my inspiration wall. I'm sorry to say I don't know the original maker, as I snipped this illustration out of a vintage graphic design magazine from the 1970's.

I like how the colors go from light to dark in a graduated way in this illustration, and as soon as I had the colors in front of me I knew I wanted to create a similar effect with a graduation of color from dark blues to white. The design actually reminds me of my stepfather's personality, he liked to appear bright and polished on the outside, but definitely had a bit of darkness at his center.

I also wanted to incorporate some improvisational piecing into the quilt, and decided to work with a basic grid to create the final design. It's pretty beat up at this point, but you can see the grid in my original sketch above. The center square includes the darkest colors, with the value of the blues graduate out from the center to white at the edges.

I worked from the center grid out, making one block at a time using improvisational piecing techniques. As I began to build the grid of blocks on my design wall, there were times when I decided to re-work or remake a block to fit the overall design.

Here's what the top looked like with just a few blocks left to add. I found the more I added, the harder it was to create blocks that continued to fit the overall design. Those last few blocks took several days to get just right.

I've got the quilt on my design wall while I create the final label to sew on the back. And I also have to wash this quilt - my mom is allergic to cats, and my two kitties were ALL OVER this quilt in every step along the way!

Here's a few close-up shots of the finished quilt. I left a few pockets in the patchwork, although I decided at the last minute to quilt right over them (except for that shirt pocket flap above).

For as difficult as the improv piecing was for me, I'm loving how this quilt turned out. It was also absolutely a way to work through some grief on my end, having to work so closely and intimately with his well-worn clothing. I'll be passing this quilt on to my mom in the next week or so, and my wish is that it brings her some comfort and love. ❤