Quilting With Memorabilia
Have you ever looked at a box of memorabilia or trinkets and wondered what to do with it – other than close the lid and put it back on the shelf?
Maybe you have a collection of hankies from your grandmother. Or what about the bowl of buttons and the box of lace you’ve been saving for some project? Or maybe your husband, son, or boyfriend has a box of military medals.
You can easily share those treasures in a wall hanging style Quilt.
Basic Quilt Blocks are the foundation for these memory Quilts, and you will find an expression of creativity and soul as you develop the layout of your quilt and devise methods for attaching the objects.
Designing Your Quilt
Your collection should be the center of interest for your quilt or wall hanging. The first thing to do is pull your collection together and lay it out on a table.
Decide on a theme for your quilt. If you have a collection of gloves, your theme might be elegant parties. A collection of buttons might reflect memories of childhood. Those military medals might be to honor a soldier hero.
You might even want to make notes about your theme and thoughts to guide you as you make your quilt. Think, too, about keeping those notes as a journal for future generations to appreciate your creation.
Fabrics
Select fabrics that relate to the theme of your quilt – both in color and design. For example, you might not want to include a bright fabric with fire trucks in your memorabilia quilt with gloves representing elegant parties. However, that truck fabric might be perfect for a quilt with buttons from childhood.
Use a variety of lights, mediums and darks to give your quilt an interesting background, keeping in mind the mood of your quilt. A quilt with a somber mood might not be the place to put a wide selection of bright, fun fabrics.
Size of Your Quilt
Let your collection determine the size of your quilt or wall hanging. As you lay your collection out on the table, you will get a sense of how large your quilt needs to be in order to display your memorabilia in its best light. You may decide to add or remove some of the items; or even to make two quilts with your collection.
The Shape of the Quilt
Be open to a unique shape that might develop as you design your quilt. Your button quilt might be round; a quilt with military medals might take on the shape of a medal with the ribbon. Or, your collection may be perfect displayed on a traditional rectangular quilt. A hankie or collar quilt might have scalloped edges to echo the shape of the piece.
You may discover that the blocks within your quilt are different sizes, or even different shapes. For example, you may attach each glove to a block. You may place a short glove on a square block, while an elbow-length glove is better suited for a rectangular background. Be open to those different shapes, and know that you can always place strips of fabric around or between the blocks to piece the quilt.
Overall Look
As you design your quilt, keep in mind the idea of repetition in your quilt. By repeating themes, shapes and / or colors, your quilt or wall hanging will have the continuity of a traditional quilt while displaying the uniqueness of your collection.
About the Author
Smithsonian National Quilt Collection: An Overview
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