make quilts

Wouldn’t it be great to make quilts. People are attached to them. They remember you.

I am just learning how to make patchwork quilts and my goal is to make two for our bed ( one for summer, one for winter) and one for each person I love.

Quilting uses up bits and pieces to make a beautiful whole. How satisfying that must be!

This is definitely worth it, especialy if you’re a nervous/fidgety/on the go/high-energy type like me. Quilting has done wonders for my nerves. I hand-stitch my quilts, one piece at a time, and also hand-sew the batting and the backing. It is a very tedious process and I have to go slow to get the stitches even and tight. It makes me feel calm and peaceful, and put me in a zen frame of mind. Plus the feeling I get when I am done with a quilt is wonderful, I feel so creative and accomplished.

I made a quilt for each of my kids for the past Holiday; they loved them! I broke my husband’s digital camera but as soon as I get my old-school 35mm pics developed I will post pics of them. Each quilt is twin-sized and has a theme which uses pieces of their old clothes.

For my daughter, age 16, Iyende’s quilt I used this pink dress she used to wear all the time that says ‘New York’ and has 2 big stars on it. I cut out the New York part and the stars and used them as the centerpiece of the quilt. I used the rest of the dress scattered throughout the quilt in 4 big squares. The other squares came from a maroon sweatshirt she used to wear, 2 pairs of her old blue jeans, and a white pair of jeans. The border/backing of the quilt is a light blue, almost a blue jean color sheet. She was so surprised, she knew I was making a quilt but thought I was using different clothes. She thought I had thrown the dress out when she out-grew it last year, and had missed it.

For my son Scott, age 11, his theme was the Cleveland Browns, his favorite football team. I used his old Browns t-shirt that he used to wear for every game. It was so tattered that the wrists were all torn up. I cut out the front of the sweatshirt and used it as the centerpiece of his quilt, and got 2 other squares from the rest of the sweatshirt. I also cut up an old orange sweater of my husband’s that had a big ink stain down the front, and got 4 big squares from that. For the rest I cut up a pair of old black sweatpants of Scott’s that had a big hole in one knee, and a ripped black thermal t-shirt. He loved it, he told me it was his best present and second-favorite present he received (his most favorite being a whoopee cushion his brother Todd got him). He was really surprised, he thought that I didn’t care about how much he likes football and the Browns! For the border/backing I used a dark green and black checkered sheet with orange and yellow in it.

For my son Todd, age 8, his theme was Sesame Street. He watches the show a lot and loves Elmo and the gang. I used an old shirt of his from when he was a toddler, the front of it has Elmo, Big Bird, Ernie, and Grover. I cut that part out and used it as a the centerpiece of his quilt. The shirt was a 4t so I was only able to get one more square out of it, the back. For the rest of the quilt I used one of his old baby blankets, 3 pairs of his old jeans, and a sweatshirt he just got last year but was torn down the front. For the border/backing I used a dark green and black checkered sheet with orange and yellow in it. He was also suprised because he thought I didn’t realize how much he still likes Sesame Street.

I have made quilts for my kids before that they loved, but this year I think I made their favorites. They have been carrying them around and using them all over the house, and my boys have actually been making their beds every day just to spread their quilts out on their beds.

I didn’t finish the quilt for my folks, but I will finish it in time for my mom’s birthday in April. I felt bad at first that I didn’t have it done for the holidays but this way I have time to do the stuffing/inside and the finiishing touches outside.

I’m making a quilt for each of my 3 children and my parents for a holiday present. Considering making one for my in-laws. I usually make one quilt for my kids each year, about half the size of a twin-size comforter. This year I am making twin-size quilts for them and a queen size quilt for my folks.

I just made a note as soon as I finish writing an entry for each thing I am going to get it. :) yeah!

First step finishign mom’s quilt