Monday, November 18, 2013

Hugs

Back in June or July I was contacted by a lovely lady (my physio's assistant) to see if I could make her two quilts for Christmas presents.  

Now these two quilts were going to be extra special quilts.  She lost her husband (53yrs old) three years ago and she wanted quilts made for her grown children using his shirts and ties she still had.  

I had to think about this.  I didn't want to screw up someone' s cherished clothing.  Could I work with these items knowing whom they belonged to?  (kids thought it was creepy).  After much consideration  I decided to go for it.  

She brought over a tub of golf shirts, ties and dress shirts.  And there they sat until Sept.  (too many things were happening during the sumer to get started)  The pattern and layout were up to me, she didn't care.  I came up with the idea to include a family picture on the quilt.  (something I have never done before).  
Out came the pattern books and magazines to look for inspiration.   I consulted Bonnie K Hunter's book Scraps and Shirttails.  

And then got down to the task at hand.  Making two quilts using 6 golf shirts, 4 dress shirts and about 10 ties.  
the following pictures take you through their journey. 
ties unstitched
Shirt cutting begins
2.5" strips ready to go; lots to work with
test run of block
3 blocks done, many to go
tie strips; very slippery; used muslin underneath

Tie string block
many tie string blocks
I had to keep reminding myself through this process that these are not my colours.  These are being used for sentimental reasons.  

Whew I think that is enough photos for one post.  Drop back tomorrow for more progress on these quilts. 

Happy stitching

Lee

4 comments:

  1. I have never done this type of project before - not sure I could have the patience. (Or knowledge!!) The sting blks picture made me think 'chaos' but, when you put them in the next photo with the shirt blks, I think I like what I see..... Yup, I have to see what comes next!!

    Looking good Lee D

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  2. So thoughtful to do this! I got the same question a couple of weeks ago. To make a quilt out of clothing. But the lady put it on hold, because she couldn't get through her late husbands cloths yet. She wants to wait, and this gives me time to look around what to make out of it. You gave me lots of inspiration! Thanx!

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  3. That came out so cool! I know that your customer will love the results!

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  4. It is looking fantastic. They will really appreciate it.

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