Stitched with Love – Memory Quilts

Saturday, February 20, 2016

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What to do with those snuggly worn baby clothes, and the loveys your child has carted here-there-and-everywhere?  If your the sentimental sort like me, you know the threadbare outfit your toddler scuffed the knees out of are not “hand-me-downs” that your BFF is really going to want to dress her new little tyke in.  And yet, it pains you to think of parting with them!!  The mounting pile in the attic of the outfit you brought “junior” home from the hospital in, and baby’s first Christmas pajamas remains a cluttered cove of memories collecting dust.  And worse, if you’re a southern momma, everything has a monogram on it anyway, so your options for who to pass things on to is limited.

My ever so talented friend Kathleen of Creative Stitches has a beautiful solution to collectively immortalize those precious tangible memories.  Hand made quilts that piece together the scraps and sentiment of your little ones childhood wardrobe.

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I recently had quilts made for Izzy and Evie from bags of dresses and blankets and adornments that Ive been saving for years, unable to part with.

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There are countless memories attached to these textiles.  Of course I could never part with the shirt that Evie wore to announce that she was going to be a “Big sister”….Or the Make A Wish T’shirt that represents her once-in-a-lifetime Disney Cruise….or that first birthday outfit from when we seriously wondered if it would be her last birthday….or the Warrior Princess shirt that she and her best-heart-buddy Maggie wore to match for pictures.

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And sweet Izzy’s quilt comprised of green square polka-dot patches from the birthday dress that Abi sewed for her one year….and her sweet smocked sundresses with her initials that she modeled for Dayspring….Cupcake appliqués for our “cupcake girl” and festive 4th of July flair that she and cousins wore for the fireworks show.

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The girls LOVED opening their quilts on Christmas morning and “ooh-ing” and “aah-ing” (just like their momma) over each square and recollecting the time I wore “such-and-such” for a date with daddy or “remember how we sisters all had this dress to match with our own initial on it?”….They hold the memories dearly too and Im so thrilled they have this treasure to carry from their childhood and one day, display in their nursery of their little ones with stories to tell and memories to share!!
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Kathleen also made a Christmas themed quilt at my request.  My kids have long outgrown their “Cousin Christmas” T-shirts from when all 17 cousins spent time at my parents over the holidays together (epic fun for our kids), and yet I couldn’t see passing on the shirts to Goodwill.  And there is that pinafore dress that my mother smocked little gingerbread men on that each of my girls have worn.  Gigi snagged a tear in the back of it last year, but the smocking plate perfectly fit on a quilt square to savor the handiwork of my mother.  The kids Christmas pajamas from over the years have lovingly been stitched into this quilt which now will be a snuggly throw for the holidays in years to come.

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I shared Kathleens work a few years ago when she made a quilt for Gigi and had several people respond inquiring about her making quits for them as well (apparently I am NOT the only crazy melancholy momma who cant part with this stuff).  She additionally has made beautiful Memory Quilts for precious friends whose children have not been long for this world.  What a beautiful way to treasure the tiny clothes which maybe have never been worn, but that still have been carried in the hearts of their grieving mommas!!
Check out Kathleens INSTAGRAM

Her FACEBOOK PAGE

Her WEBSITE

You can contact her at: kaitshel@aol.com

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