I agree with Jennifer.  Why not incorporate turtles into a baby gift quilt?  She might look for some fabric printed with turtles.  (Does anyone know where there is any?)  Or she could design or find a pattern of turtles to applique on quilt blocks. 

I often made quilted blankets for baby gifts and for sale.  They consisted of a single piece of printed fabric for the top and another for the back.  In between was batting.  I could tie or quilt the coverlet.

In this case, find a piece of fabric with turtle motif and use it for the top. You can use either the solid piece or cut it into patches and alternate with coordinating solid color patches.

  This is only one idea for a turtle design that could be stylized and appliqued to a quilt patch or in the center of a quilt. 

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Turtle Quilts Inspired by Turtle Blog

Some of the places where I’ve found Christmas fabrics and ideas for quilters and fabric artists:

The Christmas Cloth Store handles solely Christmas and holiday related fabrics.  They carry a wide variety of items for your Chrismas sewing and quiltmaking.

Free Christmas Quilt & Block Patterns from Bella Online presented by Kim Noblin.

Christmas Quilts & Accessories at Quilts.About.com presented by Janet Wickell.

Snowy River Quilts has some interesting Christmas fabrics in their store, including “Countdown To Christmas” and “Christmas Past.”

There also are delightful books about quilting and Christmas:

The Christmas Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini , one of my favorite quilting fiction writers, comes to mind.  It’s a story from her Elm Creek Quilters series.

The Christmas Memory Quilt, written by Kimberly Webb and illustrated by Jennifer Gaskin, will be released soon…a story for children about quilting and Christmas and memories.

If you have favorite places to shop for your Christmas supplies and patterns, let me know and I’ll post it here.  Do you have any special Christmas in July projects you’re making? 

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Quilters Think Christmas Thoughts in July

Were any of you brought up on the Dick and Jane reading books in grammar school?  Do you have memories of learning to read when you see these characters?

I discovered at, Fat Quarter Shop, fabric with Dick, Jane and Sally.  A current feature is the Sally Look Quilt Kit by Michael Miller Fabrics, for a 50-inch piece, packaged in a collectible Dick and Jane lunch box.

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More Book Related Character Fabrics for Quilters

It consisted of 16 squares and was simple in construction.  The youngsters had drawn their designs (actually pictures) on muslin with permanent markers in various colors.  Then the squares were sewn together with strips between.  The backing was folded over to make a wide border.

However, I found the pictures most interesting.  They depicted events in their classroom.  Among these were:

*Field trips – hay ride and apple picking

*”I love math” with math facts

*Sports such as basketball

*Computers

*Winter skiing program

*Books they read with characters illustrated

*Favorite teacher

*Picture of the school

The strips separating the blocks was red; the backing and fold-over binding yellow, with school buses, school children, and school activities printed on it.

What can you develop as a quilting project for youngsters?

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Quilts in the Classroom

Recently I read of a group of ladies who made quilts they donated to the birthing center of a local hospital.  The donation was made in memory of a past president of their guild who apparently suggested the idea.

One lady made lap quilts for elderly in nursing homes, “to help keep them warm,” she told me.  She began to get others interested in her project and soon many quilts were donated.

These small quilts don’t have to be intricate or time consuming unless you want to make them so.  I’ve found very nice baby quilts can be made from a single piece of fabric printed with colorful and interesting designs.  Simply complete with a layer of batting and backing.  Then they can be tied or machine quilted.  Lap quilts for older people could be made from patchwork printed fabric, if you don’t have time to piece or applique a quilt.

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Quilting Donations for Worthy Causes

“What interesting fabrics with designs for children,” I remarked.

She explained the quilt had been made from outgrown dresses and play outfits her daughter had worn more than 25 years ago.  As the child outgrew the clothes, my friend’s mother kept them and eventually created this quilt.

The pattern was simple.  Rectangular pieces were sewn together in strips.  However, the mom pointed out patches from a dress, a romper outfit, a blanket, etc. that brought back memories.

Grandma made the quilt for her granddaughter’s bed.  Mom saved it when her daughter was grown.  Now it brings back memories for all three.

You can make a treasure like that, too, from your children’s clothing.  Start saving now!

(Perhaps in this book you can find ways to use various scraps from clothing or leftover from quilting in rectangular patterns.)

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A Quilt Made from Children’s Clothes

Do I put the top, batting and back together, then do the hand stitching through all three layers.  Or do I just stitch the top layer, then put it together? 

Then she wonders, if she puts them together to stitch, how does she secure them.

ANSWER: You can quilt it either way…quilting just the top piece of fabric or quilting through all three, depending on the effect you want.

If you hand sticth just the top (the pre-printed panel), you might want to use contrasting thread for decorative effect, then put the three layers together.

However, to give the quilt a quilted, somewhat three-dimensional effect, quilt through all three layers before binding.  You may or may not want to use a contrasting thread.  It’s your choice.

About securing the layers, if you quilt through top, batting, and backing, use a fairly thin batting.  And you have at least two ways to secure the layers.

Some quilters use safety pins (nickel ones that won’t rust) and pin the layers together with as many as needed so there isn’t slippage.

Or you can use basting stitches and sew the layers together with large running stitches which you remove after you’ve done your quilting.

A newletter I just received from Penny Halgren addressed this topic of pin and thread basting.  Penny explains this topic thoroughly on her web site, How To Quilt.

You may want to check out her article at: http://www.how-to-quilt.com/articles/5101-pin-basting-thread-basting.shtml .

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Q & A – How Do You Quilt a Pre-Printed Panel?

You’ll find a multitude of designs…floral, pictorial, historical, Sunbonnet Sue, animals, state capitals and more…to embroider or do as cross stitch. I was browsing thorough a needlework catalog and came across so many interesting designs for quilts.

 When you’ve finished the desired number, sew them together with sashing, then select a batting and backing.  You can tie the quilt at the corners of the blocks or use quilting stitches, particularly in the sashing.

Embroidered quilts also are ideal to make for babies, children or their dolls.

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Needlework Quilts

However, as I think about it, the small quilts aren’t entirely new.  My grandmother made quilts for my sister’s and my dolls.  She took the scraps from her larger quilts and other sewing, then created these tiny coverlets for us. 

We loved them and used them.  Unfortunately they wore out, so I didn’t find them with the few dolls’ clothes my mom had saved as memorabilia from our childhood.

However, these could be called the mini quilts of a generation or two ago.  We didn’t consider them art, just something Nanny made with love and gave us for our dolls.  You also could make tiny quilts, trying out various patterns, for youngsters in your life.

The following books do give you ideas for patterns and directions:

Great Little Quilts: 45 Antique Crib & Doll-Size Quilts with Patterns and Directions by Eleanor Levie.

Small Endearments: Nineteenth Century Quilts for Children and Dolls by Sandi Fox.

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Making Doll Quilts

*My daughter made a quilt, when her husband was ill with cancer, that could be considered a Family Quilt or Memory Quilt to her.  She made patterns of her husband’s hand, the children’s hands, and hers.  Then she cut these from fabric and incorporated them into a quilt that she could hang on the wall.

This quilt has sepecial significance for her family of a time when they were pulling together for her husband’s recovery.  It brings back memories of a time when the children were younger, now that their hands are much larger.

*My grandson’s baby quilt (or “blankie”) that I made for him, brings memories of his little sister and me sitting on the floor tying it.  It has become well worn, so that his mom has had to patch it many times by appliquing on trucks and trains and animals.

*Memory Quilts may consist of pictures of family or a particular place.  These can consist of a composite of fabric pieces appliqued to resemble the subject.  Or they can involve actual photos transferred to fabric.

*The quilt I made with my grandmother, more than 50 years ago, brings back memories of those times we sat beside her kitchen stove and hand stitched this quilt, as well as ones for my sister and brother.  I was thrilled to find my mom had kept it for me and enjoy it, even though it’s well worn.

The Quilting Spirit in our life often lives through our memories and the projects we undertake, whether they’re consciously designed to create memories (as in photo and hands quilts) or are ones we look back upon and realize they evoke thoughts of days and times ago.

Quilting and fabric art can be an activity that ties generations together and makes memories that last through the generations.

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The Quilting Spirit – Thoughts on Memory Quilts