Memory Hand-Print Quilt Part - 1

This weekend was a busy one going through my oldest daughters old scrapbook boxes and sorting what to keep and what to throw away. I don't save as much as many but more than some. We threw away a few large piles of artwork since when she was little, I didn't do the video art shows I did with my younger children. However, she came across some hand-prints in her box that made me do some thinking.

When she was baptised into our Church, we invited all our family and friends to come to her baptism. I wanted to make a memorable gift for her from the day. We took two colors of paint that would match her room at the time. We had all her friends and cousins put their hand-print on a quilt block leaving their hand-print mark as a memory for the day. I actually had them each do three hoping that I could make a quilt for each of my parents with all their grand-children's hand-prints on it. Well, life happened and I didn't ever get the quilts made.

My oldest seemed upset about it when she found the hand-prints. I don't blame her as it was 15 years ago. I actually thought earlier that day that I wanted to get working on her T-shirt memory quilt but when she brought up the hand prints, I told her we needed to get that done. It is actually her 23rd birthday this week so I am burning the midnight oil trying to get it finished.

Last night, I cut out all the old jeans I had saved for the quilt into squares. We cut out the felt for the middle batting of the squares and today I pinned the tops onto the batting felt and the jean bottom. She decided that she wants flannel on the squares in between so we are going to use the left over flannel from our Christmas pajamas over the years for those squares which will make the quilt all that more special as she remembers the fabric from all the years of Christmas pajamas.

Once I have the squares pinned, she quilts the hand-print using variegated string so it will match the flannel and the colored squares. We have burgundy for the boys hands and a mauve for the girls hands. I think if I make the other two quilts for my parents I will machine quilt the hands as it is going to take some time to quilt them all by hand.

She wants to make the quilt a ragged square quilt where the edges of the squares are frayed. I have seen these quilts many times but I have never made one so this will be a first.

I have done hand-print crafts before. I made aprons with all the kids hand-prints on it and had them sign their names with Sharpies. I have painted them on sweatshirts and then quilted around them for grandma's. I have put them on pillowcases for birthday parties and on boxer shorts, t-shirts etc. This however is a new/old (pun intended) one for us.

With my second daughters big day, instead of paint, we just traced everyone's hand and I was going to quilt them on a plain quilt with their names quilted below their hand print. I still probably will get that done for her as her birthday is coming up in a few months but life is a bit crazy so we'll have to see about that.

I feel sorry about how life changed for my younger children when I got divorced. It was right before my third daughters big day and it never crossed my mind to do the quilt tradition I started with the older girls. I think at that time I was in survive mode. Going through all the memories this past week has made me realize how much my younger kids have missed out on because of the stress in my life the past almost nine years. It is a tragedy that can't be erased.

So, keep checking back and hopefully by next week we'll have it done and posted. It is taking longer than I thought to get all the squares cut pinned and put together to quilt but I think it will be worth it in the end. I just wish I had done it 15 years ago. Better late than never I guess.