Dear Daughter

I was contacted by a young woman named Lindsay a few months ago. She wanted a small quilt made for her mother for Mother's Day - made from fabrics of her grandmother's clothing. A co-worker who knew about my Making Memories project and book sent her my way.

Lindsay brought an armful of her grandma's clothes. Some were made from silk, some synthetics - of varying weights and mostly bright colors. There was a pink/gold from a dressy suit, an orange chiffon from a top/pant suit, white floral silk from a beautiful dress, a turquoise Hawaaian shirt, a dark skirt. I puzzled over how to pull them all together. Then I noticed how many of the prints featured large flowers. Would it work to use those as the centers of log cabin blocks? 

It did. The log cabin design allowed me to use different size centers. I used the same striped fabric from a jacket around each center to unify the design. But after that, I let them each be different. I used interfacing to give more weight to some of the flimsier fabrics. And I stitched each block onto a fabric foundation to add more stability. The fabrics varied widely.

One more surprise: we added her grandmother's handwriting, from a sweet message on a greeting card. I stitched in those words in a few spots around the quilt, then buttons in the flowered areas after I quilted it all in the ditch. The final quilt measured 26” x 26”.

And I got it done on time! Lindsay wins the prize for the nicest Mother’s Day present ever, don't you think? I hope her mom thinks it is as sweet as I do.