Handmade Baby Memory Quilt
The answer is a handmade baby memory quilt. The question is what do you do with the pile of t-shirts stacked in the drawers or hanging in the closet that have sentimental value from your baby? The little one has out grown them but you really can’t seem memorial shirts to part with even one. Keeping them in boxes in the attic, the garage, or still hanging in the closet just isn’t going to work. It is time to clean them out, but how to you part with all those special memories of when you went to… or when she did… or he had…
Preserve the memories. A handmade baby memory quilt allows you to sort through the boxes, stacks, and closets then pull out just the t-shirts that have the sentimental value. The memory quilt will provide warmth when completed but much more. Picture you and your child, wrapped up in the folds of the memory quilt, as you tell stories about each t-shirt block. “… Remember the time when you had that t-shirt on and you went to visit Grandma… ” or, your son had spilled a chocolate shake all over that t-shirt after putting it on for the first time while on vacation. These conversations provide not only opportunities to spend quality time with your child, but allow for the creative gift of storytelling to come alive.
A handmade memory quilt is more cost efficient than many other types of baby quilts since you are primarily using materials, such as your child’s t-shirts, that you already have on hand. To complete a memory quilt, a pelon on medium weight iron-on interfacing is required. This provides stability for the t-shirts so that they do not stretch or shrink. It also allows for the blocking of a quilt square, since t-shirt material will be unstable in comparison to the surrounding quilting materials. A handmade quilt for a baby also needs to be machine washable and easily thrown into the dryer. Having the stability of the pelon will keep the t-shirt blocks from stretching wash after wash.