I have contemplated making a memory quilt for my mom’s ninetieth birthday coming up in a few months. There are a few different basic approaches to a memory quilt. I think the most common is to use fabric from the person’s clothing to make the quilt blocks. Another way is to have photos transferred to fabric and use those in the quilt blocks. A third way in my mind is to choose block patterns that are symbolic of the person the quilt honors.
I think it would be neat to join all three of these into one quilt. Depending on the circumstances you might not have clothing or photos from an ancestor. But you could still create a memory quilt. I can imagine a quilt with blocks that help to tell the story of the ancestors life. It would be neat to cuddled up with a child or grandchild in the memory quilt and share stories about their family.
A quilt could also serve to remember several family members. Or to make the project smaller a pillow could be put together instead of an entire quilt. Adapt this idea to your needs and circumstances. You don’t even have to know how to sew. There are quilters who are willing an able to put your project together for you. Below are a few links with ideas on what others have done for memory quilts.
Memory Quilt
Custom Memory Quilts
Pictures of Memory Quilts
Family traditions are a great way of connecting us together in our current family and to those of past generations. Is there an old tradition that you or another family member remembers from the past that could be reintroduced today? One way would be to have a family brainstorming session and come up with a list of traditions that have been lost for one reason or another. Then vote on which tradition you would like to start doing again. It may be that the old tradition needs to be adjusted for today’s circumstances but if it has its roots in the past will help connect your family today with your family of the past.
telling family tales 