This was a very special project that came to me via the
Internet. My friend Shanna referred me to LA Mom, Michelle, who posted
on the Peachhead site (Community website for moms), that she was looking
for a quilter to commission a Memory Quilt for her son Gavin. Gavin was
especially close to his Nana, Beverly, who passed away in November 2011.
Michelle wanted to give something to Gavin of his Nana's as a keepsake
and memory of her. Jewelry wouldn't do for a 6 year old boy so she thought
of making a quilt out of clothing Beverly had gifted Gavin as well as
some of Beverly's clothes. I suggested adding in pictures and we also
added in an image of a card signed by his Nana and an excerpt from her
journal.
Above is the finished quilt - each square is centered around either one of Gavin's t-shirts or a picture of the two of them together. I asked Michelle what Gavin and Beverly liked to do together and she mentioned cooking, gardening, and traveling. I found some novelty fabrics at Sew Modern with cooking utensils, modern apples, and airplanes to reflect their time together. In addition, I added in some coordinating dots, stripes and bright greens and blues. The dark blue is the denim from a pair of Beverly's jeans.
The pictures Michelle sent me were so heartwarming and really showed the special bond these two had.
Planes, Apples and Cooking fabric
The excerpt from Beverly's journal
For the back, I kept it simple with the dot and stripe fabrics with a strip of the other added fabrics used.
I delivered the quilt to Michelle on Wednesday and she absolutely loved it. She is giving it to Gavin tonight for the first night of Hanukkah and I look forward to hearing about his reaction. After working on this project I realized that a Memory Quilt is such a warm and intimate way for both Michelle and Gavin to remember Beverly/Nana on a daily basis. She was obviously a very special woman and I am happy I got to know her a bit through this process.
