Merry Christmas! I had a lot of quilts I had to finish in time for the Christmas season and I am so eager to share a few of those special projects with you. I was able to make my favorite project ever for one of my favorite families! With the help from their momma, I was able to make 3 throw quilts and coasters for her daughters out of clothing items from their grandparents who have passed away.
MacKenzie (owner of the Southern Rose Monogram & Gift) is one of my best friends so I was so excited to make this special keepsake for her and her sisters. Since she owns the cutest gift shop in Columbia, Missouri--getting her gift has always been quite the chore. Knowing how special her grandparents were in her life & how important it is to keep their memory alive, I was excited when her mom Kim was eager to help me with this secret Christmas gift. Once Kim heard my idea, she thought it would be perfect to make her other 2 daughters quilts for Christmas as well!
Kim supplied me with 2 of MeMa's nighties, 2 of Papa's button up shirts, & a yellow blanket MacKenzie had gifted to her MeMa. This yellow blanket was super special to include since it was one of MacKenzie's first monogrammed gifts she had ever made. I cut the items into 5 inch squares (talk about pressure) and laid out 3 different designs. Each girl has a different design and quilting pattern. Here are the quilts after being sewn together:
Shoutout to my sister Kelly for coming over & watching my little guy so I could crank these out in one full day :)
After sewing these quilts together, I added a 5 inch white border to make the quilt big enough to be a throw. I was super thrilled that I was able to stretch the material to end up with 3 throw quilts, 6 coasters (out of scraps) AND 20 tiny ornaments for MacKenzie's cousins! She was able to surprise her cousins at a family Christmas with an ornament and a cute little poem she wrote. Tear jerker for sure :)
To make the quilts all be unique, I picked out a different quilting pattern for each quilt. For MacKenzie's I used a rose pattern (duh. Her middle name is Rose and she owns The Southern Rose), for the 2nd quilt, I picked out a paisley pattern to match Papa's shirt designs, and for the last quilt, there was a pretty flowery/paisley pattern I loved. Each quilt backing was navy minky fabric to make them super cozy and cuddly.
Here is MacKenzie's quilt finished:
I was able to use the left over strips of fabric as MacKenzie's binding. If you look super close, the edging of her quilt is fabric from the clothing. That detail is probably my favorite part of all of the quilts! Wish I had enough to do for the other 2 quilts, but I think I used almost every single piece of material I could salvage.
I was able to gift MacKenzie's quilt to her at our Christmas dinner together and it was a super special moment! So thankful for her friendship and the love she has shown to my son. Can't wait for all of our adventures and memories we are going to share for all the years to come as Ashlanders!
Here is the final product & picture of the 2 quilts I finished and took to Kim for her daughters to open on Christmas morning!
If you look closely, I was able to use the button section from both of Papa's shirts as the tie around the quilts and MeMa's lace around the 6 coasters.
This was the most enjoyment I have ever gotten out of something I have created! I am so thrilled Kim trusted me with these projects and that the girls loved their new quilts.
If you are interested in having me work with one of your loved ones clothing items, please contact me! I would love to work together to create the most wonderful keepsake.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! Remember the reason for the season!
