In Bunny’s Memory

I have never thought about the quilt I’m making for the Oak Spring Garden Foundation as a memory quilt. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s the back story. Now that I started working on it, I have started to think of it that way. It made me remember other memory quilts I have made in my over 25 years quilting.

What’s a memory quilt?

A memory quilt is a quilt that is made to remember someone or a time in someone’s life. The most used memory quilts are t-shirt quilts. A lot of people give t-shirt quilts as graduation gifts. The parents collect their kids t-shirts that mean something and have someone make a quilt from them. As much as I don’t like making them, and I think they can be ugly, it is a good way to remember a special time of your life and keep those t-shirts that would probably end in the trash.

Baby Quilts

Another popular memory quilt are baby quilts made from the baby’s clothes after they have outgrown them. When I was starting to quilt, I was asked to make one. It is a challenge to make memory quilts because you are not working with nice new fabric off the bolt. You need to cut up garments, add interfacings to stretchy fabrics and figure out funky layouts. But they are fun to make, especially when you cut up a special motif on a onesie or the embroidery in a christening gown, maybe a pocket and figure out where to put it in the quilt.

Memorial Quilts

These can be a little sad but very meaningful. They are made after someone passes away. Usually the kids after a parent passes away, gather the parent’s clothes and get a quilt made. A friend asked me to make a quilt with her mom’s clothes. She is an artist; therefore, I didn’t want to make a traditional quilt. I wanted to make something she would want to hang on her wall and remember her mom.

Aside from quilts, a quilter friend of mine made stuffed fishes with her mom’s clothes and gave them to the people that came to the funeral. Everyone got a little piece to remember her mom by. I thought that was a great idea.

Remembering Special Moments

I was commissioned to make a quilt for someone who was retiring from the military. I made a quilt with his medals and the bars they put in their uniforms which I’m sure has a name that I don’t know. 🤷‍♀️

All these quilts are over 15 years old. That baby is probably in her 20’s now. 👀 The best thing about making a memory quilt is when you give it to the owner. They usually cry when all the memories come rushing back. When you give art to a client, there usually aren't tears involved. That’s the power of quilts.

As I make this quilt for Oak Spring, I feel like I know Bunny Melon more. There probably won’t be tears when I deliver the quilt to Oak Spring, but I hope it is as special as other memory quilts. I have made.