jesusandme2

Mother's Handkerchief Quilt

I made a quilt for my sister-in-law with handkerchiefs of her deceased Mother. I found the pattern from Annies Attic e-patternscentral.com (I believe). I just fell in love with it, it was so gorgeous! I cut squares 15" then folded the handkerchief in the shape of a butterfly. I appliqued them on to the squares by stitching all around it. With some of the handkerchiefs that had a lacy trim I stitched inside the lace so there was some texture to the quilt. That wasn't such a great idea when the quilter got it. There were a few of the lacy handkerchiefs that got folded upon itself, but ever so slightly. I doubt anyone would notice. The sashing between blocks was 1 1/2" wide and the border was 5" wide with your standard binding width. On the back of the quilt I'd had made Barb's favorite picture of her Mother.I put the picture on the side that my sister-in-law slept on in bed so that her Mother was close to her heart. I added a braided trim around the photo. I also had the embroiderer make the a small piece that said Mother (that's what Barb had always called her Mom) and the label. I had someone else quilt it for me. I picked out a pattern that had dragonflies which almost looked like butterflies. I had someone else do the pic and embroidering of her Mother's legal name and what she went by. a copy of her actual signature from a cancelled check she'd signed and the dates of birth and death.. My sister-in-law went with me to the quilt shop to pick out the fabric. One thing that was really special was the names of the fabric. My sister-in-laws name is Barbara Rose (Gray) Bell. The fabric for the squares was called rose, the sashing was called grey so that was fun and gave it more meaning when we picked out the fabric. It was an honor to gift her with it when I finished it. She absolutely loved it. Her quilt was actually the 3rd. handkerchief quilt I'd made 2yrs. ago.