As you are reading this, a special quilt is winging its way to a special little boy in Florida. In my June 15 post, I told you about a quilt I was making to welcome the new grandson of my dear friend Christy–a quilt made from shirts belonging to her husband Ray, who died last August after a valiant battle with cancer.
The talented Jo Ann Carpenter did a wonderful job quilting Hugs and Kisses from Grandpa. She outlined each hug and kiss, and crosshatched through the pieced squares and border–just the right touch for this clean, simple design.
“Hugs and Kisses from Grandpa”–Made by Darra Williamson and machine quilted by Jo Ann Carpenter. Click on Free Pattern tab at the top of the page for instructions and applique patterns for making this quilt.
To bind the quilt, I cut 2 1/8″ strips from the various shirt leftovers, and pieced them end to end with right-angle seams.
I join my binding strips with diagonal seams to reduce bulk.
The first of Cyndy’s three books about printing on fabric
I knew I wanted something special for the label, so I called on my buddy, Cyndy Rymer, coauthor/editor (with Lynn Koolish and Hewlett-Packard) of three books on transferring photos and text to fabric. Using an EQ Printables Inkjet Fabric Sheet, the Photoshop program on Cyndy’s laptop, and her trusty inkjet printer, we created a label that I think is the perfect finishing touch for this special quilt.
We combined a photo with text giving the specifics of why, for whom, and by whom the quilt was made. In one of those instances of amazing serendipidy, the shirt “Grandpa Ray” wears in the photo is one of the shirts that I used in the quilt!
I fused the label to a “framing” fabric, topstitched the label edges, and then turned under a 1/4″ hem and topstitched all around the edges of the frame.
Story almost finished. It so happens that there are also two granddaughters in the family, and I couldn’t very well leave them out! These two young ladies are a bit older (both in “double digits”), so I settled upon a pillow for each, using the same 5″ cut squares and appliqued Xs and Os that I used in the quilt. I wanted a pillow that would fit a standard 18″ pillow form, so I cut border strips 2 3/4″ wide, sewed them on using a standard 1/4″ seam, and added a pillow back, once again using my pillow-making Bible, Jean and Valori Wells’ Oh Sew Easy Pillows as a guide.
I made two 18″ pillows, one for each granddaughter.
I added a little surprise on the back, perfect for tucking tiny treasures.
A pocket from one of Grandpa’s shirts makes the perfect place for special treasures.
If you’d like to make a special label for a special quilt, we’re here to help. EQ (Electric Quilt) has generously donated an EQ Printables Inkjet Fabric Sample Pack as a giveaway to one of our readers. Leave a comment by midnight (PDT) Wednesday, September 5, telling us about a special quilt you’ve either given or received, and I’ll announce the winner in my next scheduled post.
Before I wrap up, I want to thank the many, many readers who took the time to comment on my post about Mary Elizabeth Kinch and her new book, Small Pieces, Spectacular Quilts. If you haven’t read the comments, you should: some of them are really funny! The winner of the book, chosen by random drawing, is Judy in SC. Ms. G, please refresh me on your snail-mail address via seehowwesew@gmail, and I’ll get your book on its way.
That’s it for now. Don’t forget about Quilting in the Garden, which will be here before we know it! ‘Til next time, happy stitching!
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