One piece for each year for a full century.

Mrs. G was a special lady who lived a full life over a full century. She won a trip to England as a young woman, was happily married for more than 65 years, raised a family and enjoyed grandkids and great grandkids. She truly spent her 100 years well and this quilt honors her love of life.

Designed with 20 blocks representing five years each, her most significant life events are shown on the piece that corresponds with the year in which each event took place – her steamer ship adventure at age 21, her marriage several years later, and the births and deaths in her immediate family are all noted with embroidery and applique. Her quilt also includes fur from her parka and gloves in a pocket as she always kept them.

Labels and detail of the quilt honoring 100 years well lived.

Happy memorial quilt customers.

I posted about combining t-shirts and sweatshirts in a quilt but never shared pictures of the finished quilt – oops! I’d like to thank Kimberly for sending me these photos – it’s always nice to see the quilt at home.

Outline quilting is best done free motion so the fabric doesn’t shift while stitching. Here are shots of the front and back of an outline-quilted section.

Outline quilting around dolphins on front of quilt.

Outline quilting around dolphins as seen from the back of the t-shirt quilt.

Note the breaks in the outline quilting where the dolphin fins and tails crossed the waves. Although it takes more time to tie off and bury the thread ends, I think it’s worth it to ensure that the t-shirt design isn’t punctured by the needle.

Here’s the front of the quilt:

Memorial quilt with t-shirts, sweatshirts and other clothing.

As you can see, a thin strip of black fabric separates each section and is how the sections are joined together. And I think it gives a nice frame to each section, as well.

And here’s the back of the quilt:

A strip of the backing fabric covers each join on the back. Within the sections, I stitched the second edge of the fabric strip down by hand but opted to sew it down by machine where the larger sections join.

This is just a glimpse of how using the quilt-as-you-go method works when dealing with fabrics of various weights/thicknesses. Soon I’ll post a how-to with specifics on how you can use this method to make a quilt yourself.

For Daddy’s Girls

This trio of lap quilts will comfort the daughters of a much-loved dad who was mad about plaid. Edge-to-edge machine quilting over a layer of fleece ensures that the quilts are cozy and will withstand daily use and frequent laundering. While these quilts are all the same design, fabric selection and placement makes each unique.

• The quilt on the left speaks of sunny days and happy times. Mostly blues and yellows with green for accent, this quilt is backed and bound with a golden tone-on-tone cotton.
• The center quilt includes two pair of Dockers mixed in with the plaid shirts and is backed in red/black tone-on-tone cotton with black binding.
• The patriotic quilt on the right includes just a touch of green and is backed with light neutral cotton and bound in red.

Each quilt measures 60×72 inches, a generous lap size that also works well to add warmth and comfort to a double, queen or even king size bed.

And one for his parents

This fourth quilt, also the same size and design as the other three, will provide comfort for his parents now and ensure that there are enough quilts to eventually pass along to each of his grandchildren.

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Add an easy care label to your memorial quilt.

Memorial quilts are made from clothing and most clothing items have care labels. On shirts, for instance, the label is usually attached at the back of the neck or sewn into the seam toward the bottom of one side.

You can easily add a care label to your memorial quilt by selecting the label from the garment within the quilt that requires the most delicate care.

Rather than just cutting the label from the garment, remove the thread that attaches the label so that you have plenty of extra fabric above the laundering instructions.

Stitch across care label under quilt binding.

Bind across care label.

Binding finishes the edges of a quilt.

Quilt binding is the fabric folded over the sides of your quilt and sewn to both the front and back to cover the raw edges and create a nice finish. You can buy quilt binding or make your own. I suggest you make the binding for your memorial quilt from the backing, sashing or border fabric. Or you can use any fabric that complements both the back and front of your quilt.  

I’m providing instructions here for a simple quilt binding so that even a beginner can bind their memorial quilt. Please note that this is NOT the method I use on the memorial quilts that I create. Instead, I make continuous binding and sew it to the quilt with mitered corners and a seam rather than an overlap where the ends meet for a smooth, professional finish.

Simple Quilt Binding Instructions

1. Cut your binding fabric into strips 2½ inches wide. You will need two strips that are the same length as the sides of your quilt and two strips that are two inches longer than the top and bottom of your quilt. Sew fabric strips together to get the needed lengths, if necessary.
2. Matching the raw edges of the fabric, fold each of your four strips in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press.
3. Matching the raw edges and the ends, sew a binding strip to the front of your quilt on each side, using a ¼-inch seam.
4. Fold each of these two binding strips over the edge to the back of the quilt and press. Sew the folded edge of the binding to the back of the quilt, preferably by hand using a blind stitch.  
5. Matching the raw edges and extending beyond each end by one inch, sew a binding strip to the front of your quilt on both the top and the bottom, using a ¼-inch seam.
6. Fold the binding strips to the back of the quilt and press. Tuck in the excess binding at each end so that it wraps around the sides of the quilt and vanishes behind the binding on the back. Sew the folded edge of the binding to the back of the quilt, preferably by hand using a blind stitch.

Examples of Various Bindings

Quilt binding matches border.

Quilt binding matches sashing.

Quilt binding matches backing.

Quilt binding complements both front and back.

Quilt gently blowing in the wind.

A lap quilt made from ten cotton shirts, Love Remains the Same measures 56 x 70 inches. Edge-to-edge quilting secures the layers for stability and sturdiness. Fleece replaces batting for lightweight warmth. Easy-care machine wash and dry, this quilt can be used daily without worry.

Edge-to-edge quilting secures the layers.

Custom label on back of quilt.

This beautiful quilt can adorn a bed or grace a wall. A true keepsake, the entire quilt top was created with Doug’s clothing. The central blocks feature favorite outfits, business and casual. The double border includes over two dozen button-down and polo shirts. The sashing and binding are each fashioned from a pair of slacks.

Doug had a rich sense of humor as evidenced by his tie collection featured on this throw pillow. What you may not be able to see due to picture size and angle are the novelty prints – Scotty dogs, snowmen, sheep and whales. Two dress shirts were used to create the ruffle and pillow back.