another family quilt

My father-in-law turned 75 last winter, and we decided to do a family quilt for his birthday gift. (See my first family quilt) Including his wife, there were 16 of us - his children, their spouses and their children.

With such a nice even number, we decided to do this one in squares. We added in four, to make it a rectangle - square one on each corner representing the recipient. Again, each person was responsible for coming up with a square that reflected their personality. Or as my brother-in-law said on the phone from the fabric store, "You mean you want me to find a fabric that represents ME?!"

It sounded much more overwhelming that it actually was. Once we all got into a fabric store, we'd just wander around until something clicked. And it really did happen for every single one of us, even those who had never thought about fabric before. I was on hand to help come up with some ideas, or input about techniques.

I was so impressed - everyone really made a nice effort on this!

The four corners represent my father-in-law - clockwise from top left is a fleur-de-lis representing his cajun/french heritage, crosses for his faith, love of gardening, and music.

People chose and combined fabrics for some interesting statements - I love my brother-in-law's square - three panels showing cajun heritage, irish heritage, and longhorns to represent that these combined to make him in Texas (not bad for the guy who called from the store in a panic!).

I love my nephew's gears - he is always building something.

And my mother-in-law worked the Irish green, tartan plaid, celtic knots, her love of music and even a Betty Boop into the mix.

We found that polar fleece made an excellent quick-and-easy appliqué - three non-sewers used it to good effect. They cut out the flaming G in the top row, the grey gears on the third row (love those buttons with them), and the green J on the fourth row. They designed it, cut it out and I topstitched it down for them.

The youngest kid represented here was just an infant, so I used fabric left over from his room. The second youngest was three at the time, and I was so thrilled - not only did she design her own square, but she could explain her design and the whole concept of the quilt. We had a lot of fun talking about which square belonged to each person.

When we presented this to my father-in-law, he was completely overwhelmed. Everyone talked about their square, and it has become a real treasure. It is a lap-sized quilt, and he talks about feeling like he is "wrapped up in his family".

I love doing projects like this. This is not a family of sewers people who sew, but given the task and some gentle coaching, everyone really jumped at the chance to express themselves.

Interested in doing something like this for your family? Drop me a line, I'd love to help.