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Memory Quilt Tips

The memory quilts I make typically incorporate either photos or clothing. Once you know how to do it and have a little practice, it is easy to put photos on fabric. Clothing can be a bit tricky to work with because it is not always the 100% cotton fabric that quilters usually use. That is ok, though. All you need is a few techniques and it is not hard to make quilts using clothing. Here are the techniques I use to make one-of-a-kind memory quilts along with links to the internet I refer to the most.

Also, I'd love for you to share photos of memory quilts that you have made and techniques, ideas or patterns you have used. Click here to share your memory quilt.

Using Photos In Your Quilt

To include photos in a quilt, you can print them on fabric. You need access to a scanner or digital photographs, a computer with photo-editing software, and an ink jet printer. This is a multi-step process. First you’ll soak white fabric in a product which helps the ink adhere to the fabric, then let it dry. I always use Bubble Jet Set 2000. This goes against my green instincts because it is a somewhat yucky chemical, but without this, the ink won’t set on the fabric.

Next, iron the fabric onto freezer paper. This is what allows you to feed the fabric through your printer. You can cut your own 8 ½ X 11” freezer paper sheets or you can buy pre-cut sheets online or at your local quilt store. I have used both types of freezer paper and I have found that the ones I buy feed through my printer more easily. And on a “green note” I can use each sheet of pre-cut freezer paper at least twice. It is importnat to iron the fabric on the shiny side of the freezer paper really, really well so it will go smoothly through the printer. Also, I like to make more fabric/paper sheets than I think I'll need because I always end up using them.

On your computer, edit the photo so that it is cropped the way you like. I also find that I need to play with the contrast and color hues so that it prints onto the fabric brightly enough. With my printer (an HP 2750 all-in-one), I need to make the photos darker and less red that I would for regular printing. I suggest that you print the edited photo on paper first to make sure it is just the way you like it before you print it on your prepared fabric. (Then be sure to recycle the paper!)

Let the printed photo on fabric dry for at least 30 minutes, then rinse it in a mild detergent. This in important step. If you don’t rinse each photo individually, the inks can run on other blocks if the whole quilt is washed or gets wet. I use Bubble Jet Rinse for this step.

Now Some Examples ...

The pillow above was made in memory of a young boy who passed away from cancer. There is a photo of him and his cousins in the middle and animal quilt blocks around it because he loved animals.

This quilt was made for the family of a young man who passed away. I placed photos of him in the middle and made the patchwork frame with his clothing, which we'll discuss next.

For more detailed instructions on printing photos on fabrics, go to http://www.bryerpatch.com/faq/bjs_q&a_page.htm and http://www.quiltersbee.com/photo.htm.

Incorporating Clothing into Memory Quilts

Using special items of clothing or even every day clothing can make a memory quilt particularly meaningful. Quilters most often use 100% cotton for their quilts, but, much of our clothing is made with fabrics that are stretchy or slippery. It can hard to work with a fabric that doesn’t hold its shape in a quilt. Read on for my tips on how to work with clothing in quilts.

How to deconstruct clothing - For dress shirts, I remove the buttons, collar, cuffs, and yoke and detach the sleeves. Bonnie Hunter in her book Scraps & Shirttails: Reuse, Re-purpose, Recycle! The Art of “Quilting Green provides describes how to cut up a shirt most efficiently. For pants, I like to cut them in half back to front, by cutting open along the side seams. I then cut the legs off the top of the pants to get one large pieces of fabric. Then I cut open the inseams. I save the back pockets for fun projects and usually I throw away the front pockets and fly. I deconstruct t-shirts by cutting them open along one side and cutting off the neck binding and the sleeves.

Save special parts of the clothing as you are preparing it for cutting. For example, you might want to incorporate a front pocket into the quilt, or an embroidered logo from a t-shirt.

If I’m working with t-shirts or any kind of clothing that is stretchy or slippery, I use iron-on interfacing to stabilize the fabric. I use the lightest weight I can find and iron it on the back side of the piece of clothing BEFORE cutting it. (An example of the kind I use is Pellon lightweight non-woven fusible interfacing. It comes in white and gray.)

Stabilizer ironed on the the back of a t shirt front before cutting

Memory Quilt Patterns

Of course you can make a memory quilt with photos or clothing as complicated or as simple as you want. I tend to use less complex patterns for memory quilts because I find it easier to incorporate clothing and photos.

Another quilter I know has many example of memory quilts made with simple sashing between the blocks. This is an easy way to make the quilts and allows you to select a favorite fabric or color for the sashing. You can she examples at her website, Original Quilts

I have a new pattern available that is made using repurposed shirts and pants. It would work wonderfully to make a memory quilt out of a loved one's clothing.

I made Charlie's Quilt (pictured below) out of his old sports jerseys. Because each logo and number needed to be cut to a different size, I cut strips of green scraps about 3 inches wide and sewing them to all sides of the t shirt square or rectangle. Then I trimmed them all to 13" square and sewed them into rows.

For the memory quilt shown below, I used clothing to make a simple patchwork border and put photos in the middle. It would also be lovely to make one that is only patchwork squares without the center photos.

Have You Made a Memory QUilt?

Do you have a great story about a memory quilt? Did you make a quilt out of clothing? Have you incorporated photos into a quilt? Maybe you have a favorite pattern or technique you use when you make memory quilts? I invite you to share your memory quilt on a web page that I'll add to Forever Green Quilts.

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Memory Quilt Tips

Using Photos In Your Quilt

Incorporating Clothing into Memory Quilts

Memory Quilt Patterns

Have You Made a Memory QUilt?

More Memory Quilt Stories and Ideas