QS and I used the time after camping to cut and sort clothing for memory quilts. Kaja at Sew Slowly used r
ecycled clothing in several recent quilts. As she points out, each shirt contains a limited amount of fabric. It's difficult/impossible to make a preconceived vision since there probably won't be enough of any one fabric. And while you can unsew the seams and darts, sometimes those folded areas are too weak to use.
Family Fabric versus Thrift Store Fabric
Using family clothing is different than any other quilting or sewing I've done in the past. The materials are softer, sometimes even frayed and easily moves off grain. When I purchase used clothing I choose less-worn pieces. Without connections to the previous owner, I pick colors I like in material that will last longer. Conversely, the "more worn" pieces of family fabric evoke stronger memories recalling our loved ones and happy events when they wore this clothing.
Another difference between generic used clothing and memorial clothing is that the colors and prints were already chosen by a special person. Although they might not be exactly what we'd choose, it's the memory of the previous owners we want to preserve. Previously, I've combined bits of my husband's shirts with new fabric and enjoyed pointing out those heritage pieces. But with beloved {now passed} relatives it seems exploitative/sacrilegious to mix their fabrics with new. {This may be only my odd outlook and certainly everyone should create whatever comforts themselves.}
It became important that all the fabric used had been owned by our relative(s). There is a need to wrap ourselves completely in memories, not search for a few pieces scattered throughout. {What a complete turnaround from my previous use of DH's shirts.} For the first time, the visual impact of a quilt is less relevant, although it would be a bonus if the fabrics look good together.
We saved woven shirts, skirts and dresses from our dear sister but waited until now to start in order to have some distance from our grief. {Not sure how well that worked. Working on this opened a new wellspring.} DS loved purples, pinks, and reds. Lovely but not much contrast, especially since we didn't include jeans. When we asked our brothers if they'd like a memory quilt, too, they donated some shirts from our father. The additional material gave us more than enough for five lap quilts and improved the contrast within the blocks. Dad's shirts are quite a bit older so they are thinner and more worn. DS and our dad were very close; it's comforting to have their clothing mingled this way.
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| Squares and Strings from old clothing |
Originally I wanted to make free-form quilts with pockets, arm scythes, and improvisational piecing but I was overruled by all my siblings. It's important that everyone find only love and comfort in their quilt so we developed a plan everyone agreed upon. Each quilt will be slightly different although most started with six-inch squares {because that was the width of the large ruler}. The squares divided into four piles: more reds for the Bros and more pinks for the Sisters. When there was no longer enough width to cut the squares, we created strips. QS will combine them with t-shirt and sweatshirt centers to make a log cabin variation for herself.
The buttons are destined for the button jar.
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| Buttons |
First Top
Each Broken Dishes block took four squares, two of each fabric cut into HSTs. The navy plaids are our dad's while the reds are our sister's. We added a few other colors from her clothing to lighten this top for Bro1.
Here's the working layout.
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| Broken Dishes layout 1 |
Final Caution
If you choose to make quilts from family clothing, check fiber content and test small pieces with your iron. These fabrics range from twill to almost gauze. They contain a variety of natural and man-made fibers including spandex. One was printed with flocking. It took special ironing because the flocking seemed to grab the iron. The best solution was low heat from the reverse.
EDIT: If you are interested in this topic, take time to read the comments. Several people have added great points and ideas.
Enjoy the day,
Ann
