Sheila Juchcinski Hughes is a woman I taught with at Kennedy, and she started me in the direction of life celebration quilts. When her mother (who was younger than me) died, Sheila asked if I would put her t-shirts and sweatshirts into a quilt.
See this former blog entry. There was also a baby quilt made from Sheila's mom's pajamma bottoms - that was for the first Juchcinski grandchild, and that was almost 10 years ago. Now there are 7 grandchildren! A few years later Sheila's sister Bridgette asked me to make
additional quilts from the clothing.
Now Sheila has married and has a daughter. She's been collecting clothes from relatives to make a "big girl" quilt for daughter and a sofa throw for her mother-in-law. Ella's quilt has clothes from her aunts/uncles, cousins, grandparents - and of course her mom and dad. Mrs. Hughes's quilt is similar but includes baby clothes that are so small they had to be pieced together to make a usable block. Ella's quilt will have some purples, and Mrs. Hughes's will use blues.
This idea is a brilliant one. Even though I have a couple of commission in queue, Sheila's have leaped to the front of the line because I feel such a connection with her family. The remaining pictures just show the variety of blocks. Sheila's sister-in-law wrote a little note for the four pieces of clothing she sent. I scanned these notes onto an iron-on transfer so that these notes are a part of the quilt. The original notes I'm putting into the pocket of Sheila's father's denim workshirt.
This little romper was so small I had to enlarge it with some of my fabrics. What's on the bottom is a piece of Ella's christening sweater.
And this block is special because it incorporate something from both of Ella's parents. These finished projects will be so meaningful.
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