When the Carter Critters were little, I decided to save their special T-shirts so that I could make them a T-shirt Quilt. I saw one in a magazine & I thought they were the coolest things! Well I never got around to it & I carried those darn T-shirts to every house we ever lived in! Finally when everyone was grown & married, I got started - it took me a good 10 years to finish them, but I did it! I didn't go in birth order - since the boys aren't as sentimental as the girls, I started with them; Jill, Cindi, Terri, Ben & Ty. I love that Mom helped me with the first couple. It sure was nice to use here drapery tables & industrial machines to make them...it was so much easier. I finished the others here at the Riverhouse on my own, but I love the way they turned out!
Between Leah, Nicole, & I we had saved enough T-shirts for me to make a memory quilt for them, too, & I was happy to do so!
I absolutely LOVE quits! A few years ago I decided that I wanted to make a quilt for each of our grandchildren - not a full blown quilt that fits on your bed, but a personal sized quilt to cuddle up in while they watch TV or read a book.
In our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, children can choose to be baptized & confirmed a member when they turn 8. I attended a baptism once where the child's grandmother had made her a quilt & she compared the quilt to the Holy Ghost. The spirit will protect you & comfort you & remind you that you are loved. The quilt will protect you from the cold, keep you comfortable & help you feel safe, & when you remember that it was made with love, you will know how special you are to me. Not all of our grandchildren are members, but the idea inspired me & we have had fun with it.
UPDATE (Apr 2020), we now have 37 grandchildren! So far I have completed 25 of these quilts & am working on 3 more this year. I feel confident that I can keep it going. I try to make each quilt show their interests or use their favorite colors. Some of the local grankids like to go with me to pick out the fabric so we make it a G'ma & me date. Those that live farther away I will ask them over the phone what their favorite things are or if they have a favorite color. Some have opinions while others don't, but they all seem to like having this special gift.
Here is a parade of quilts (so far)...
2008 - Adia was into horses at the time & really liked brown & blue - she even helped me tie her own quilt...
2009 - Our daughter, Rochelle, has four boys who are very athletic & play every sport there is, so it was easy to talk them into a sports themed blanket. 2009 - I asked Trevor what his favorite sport was & he told me football & that his favorite team was the Indianapolis Colts. 2010 - Ethan's favorite was football, too, & his favorite team was the 49ers...by the time Cade turned 8 (2012), he wanted a "football blanket" too & he chose the Packers. Carson kept asking when he gets his "football blanket"...finally in 2016 - he chose a 49ers print (see below).
2010 - Luke likes basketball...so I chose the following teams; the Lakers because he lives near LA, the Kings because we live near Sacramento, the Warriors because his Deceuster grandparents live in the Bay Area, & the Jazz because G'ma Judy lives in Utah.
2011 - Avery wanted a soccer & piano quilt. That presented a fun challenge, but we managed to find some fun fabric & she chose to frame them in bright colors. Her Great Grandma helped me tie this one weekend when they were visiting...
2012 - Kenyon chose some interesting prints...he had some definite ideas about what fabrics he liked & didn't like. I was worried when he chose 7 different fabrics, but I was quite pleased with how well the colors blended...
Cori's favorite color is turquoise. I found this cute chevron pattern that was fun to do...it is one of my favorite patterns.
2013 - Alana's favorite colors are white & yellow but I was not able to find fabrics that I thought would work so I chose colors that I've seen her wear that I think look great on her. It just so happened that they came to visit for a few days while I was making hers & she was thrilled to help. She's going to be a great little seamstress!
2014 - Jake just wanted a black & white football blanket - nice & simple. So I cut out the footballs & appliquéd them on a white block. He was very happy with it...
Adison chose the same pattern that her sister Avery used, but Adison wanted it to be all different shades of pink! It turned out adorable, perfectly reflects her cute little personality! She went with me to pick out the fabrics & the minute I showed her where the "fat quarters" were, she just started pulling what she liked & putting them in the cart. Got to love a girl who knows what she wants!
When my daughter Jill was little, my mom & I made a Little Dutch Girl quilt for her & a Super Hero quilt for her brother, Ben. When it came time to do her daughter Macy's quilt, she asked if I'd make a Dutch girl quilt for her, too. I was thrilled! So I had her send me some of the girls old clothes & I actually used their clothes to create the Dutch girl's dresses. I think it turned out super sweet & it adds to the sentimental value of it! I went ahead & made the same blocks for Penelope's quilt that I will finish in 2016.
Jill liked the super hero one, too, & asked if I'd make one for Roman's 3rd Bday in 2013...
2015 - I like that each quilt suits each child's personality. It is also fun when they get a chance to help me work on them. Many people have commented that I have taken on an ambitious project, but it is a labor of love for me - I truly enjoy making them & their smiles (like Jason's below) are totally worth it! He chose all the alligator fabric.
In 1977 I made a Mickey Mouse blanket when I was expecting Ben. Ben's nursery was decorated in Mickey Mouse characters & I made the quilt for his bed, but it hung on his wall for a long time, as shown in one of these old pics. All of the kids wrapped up in it when they were little. You can see Ben holding Cindi wrapped up in it & Ty is napping all wrapped up in it, too, & he's on top of the original super hero quilt my mom & I made Ben.
Sadly, the blanket accidentally got tossed while moving from Tennessee to California. I was sick about it so I took these old photos & tried to recreate this little labor of love. I felt great nostalgia as my 1st baby was about to have his 1st baby & I enjoyed remembering my babies as I made the new quilt. The original quilt had hand embroidered Mickey faces on each corner, but when I went to recreate them, it took forever to do just one so I went to plan B & just appliquéd the faces as well as the center full body...
It was fun to present the quilt, along with Ben's vintage Mickey Mouse stuffed toy from his nursery & his baby book at Ryan's baby shower in 2015...
2016 - This was a busy year for quilts! We had 6 babies born in 2008 & we added Cole & Cade to the family & that meant seven quilts were all due this year!
Carson "finally" got his football blanket! Seriously, when he saw it he said, "Finally!"
Kaden chose a fun quilt they found on Pinterest. The Creeper from Mine Craft...it was a super fun one to make & it turned out great!
I got to give Keira, Olivia, & Lucie their quilts all at the same time. The three of them were baptized together in Utah. It was so fun for them to share their special day! Keira chose an intricate pattern with her favorite colors, Liv wanted a unicorn print (we found one that wasn't too crazy), & Lucie wanted all things puppies!
Pip's quilt is just like Macy's - we used some of the clothes they wore when they were little to create the little girl blocks & just used a different color to put it together. Most of the quilts I make are tied, but this quilt is a replica of a quilt that my mom & I made for Jill when she was a toddler so I quilted it on my machine.
Cole is really into Star Wars so I found a Star Wars print & added coordinated colors to create this one. He was super excited!
For Jack's 4th birthday, I wanted to make him a Super Hero, too, because he likes Roman's so much...but I decided to make it a little bit different. COWABUNGA! It was a hit! Terri was visiting during fall break one year & she helped me make a super hero quilt for Jude & a TMNT for Memphis, too.
2017 - Lexi wanted zoo/safari animals...that was a challenge to find a print that didn't seem to baby-ish so we settled on animal prints & her favorite color is purple. This one really turned out beautifully! One of my favorites!
Donovan likes soccer so we created a soccer theme surrounded by his favorite color blue.
2018 - Cade is my Birthday Buddy. He loves Mine Craft so I got to re-create the Creeper for him. He loved it!
Roman loves all kinds of sports so we created a sports theme for him surrounded by blues with a little milky-dot in the center.
2019 - Jude wanted a sports quilt, too. It's one of my favorites to do. I think it finishes nicely...
2020 - Jack chose a "Bear" theme because he likes to cuddle with his "Beary."
Sani wanted gymnastics, pink blue & yellow...difficult to find gymnast prints but we did our best. We found a pink print right in the center that had some gymnasts on it.
Cooper is another Mine Craft fan so I got to make another Creeper for him. It is really a fun quilt to put together. It's putting a puzzle together!
2021 - Memphis is crazy about Mario Brothers so he had fun helping me pick out the complementary fabric for this.
2022 - Trey has always been fascinated with animals so it was no surprise when he asked for safari animals on his quilt.
2023 - Ryan is drawn to purples & absolutely loves Sophia the 1st so Dara suggested we go with that. I love this color scheme.
Paige is all about soccer these days & is really very good at it, so she chose a soccer theme.
2024 - Finley is all about color & rainbows. She asked for "rainbow colors" & I'm really happy with how this one turned out...& I already had most of this fabric left over from other quilts I had made!
Still to come...
2025 - Erin, Margot
2027 - Zoe, Emmett
"Our lives are like quilts - bits & pieces, joy & sorrow, stitched with love."
