Wednesday, November 23, 2011

My "pain-in-the-neck" quilt project...

Baby Clothes Quilts
THREE of them
One of my friend's asked me if I'd be willing to make her three quilts made of her three daughter's baby clothes. I told her I'd look into it and get back to her. After lots of research online I found that to have these made in a lap-sized quilt they can run anywhere from $300-$500!

Her girls are 10, 13, and 15 and she'd been hanging onto these clothes for all these years to have them made into quilts. I thought, "How hard can these be. I'll do it!" So she brings me the clothes and a couple days later, I go through the huge Rubbermaid bin. Oh NO! 85% of it is all jersey knit stuff, 5% is sweaters, and the rest is cotton fabric. Then in the bin are 3 bags with specific outfits for each girl in each bag. Each bag contained their "coming home" outfits (all jersey knit stuff in newborn size) and then some t-shirts and sweaters. oh....what a challenging project I have ahead of me! These things have been hanging over my head for so long. I've had this bin of clothes for almost a year!
I'm determined to get them done this month. I've got the first one just about done. I took a sneak peek picture last night to send to my friend and she loves what she sees so far. 
Honestly, I'm not super crazy about them because the clothes I had to work with was so limited and not my choice of fabrics, patterns or colors. But I've added some of my own fabric and did the best I could working with some of those knits (and no sweaters! you just can't cut up a sweater and incorporate that into a quilt!)
Hopefully I'll have all three of these done soon to show you.
I've learned one thing...I'll never make another one of these again. 
(Except for the ones for my girls but I was smart and ONLY saved cotton clothes!)
 

6 comments:

  1. That is a pain in the neck. I've saved only a few cotton items that I'll give to my kids when they become parents. But I certainly won't be making them into quilts!

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  2. Oh, you are a good friend to take on such a monumentally difficult project... times three! I incorporated a few special baby outfits and dresses from her first and second birthdays into a quilt I made for my daughter a few years ago. I think it worked out well because the quilt was primarily made of fabrics from my stash and I snuck in those other prints (no knits, just cottons) to help make the quilt even more special.

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  3. Oh bless your heart Jen. That is a huge undertaking. What a blessing you are to be doing this for your friend. You just cant put a price tag on it. Happy Thanksgiving. Sincerely. Trish

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  4. What a sweet friend you are! I've never attempted a quilt like this {or 3!} but I've heard they are difficult to make. But just think how nice it will be have these quilts no longer hanging over your head...

    Jennifer :)

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  5. Please show us the whole thing! Looks beautiful!

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  6. I think you're earning your angel wings ;-)

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