My neighbor Janice asked me to help her finish a quilt started by her dear friend Susan. Susan was working on an alphabet quilt for her baby granddaughter when she lost her battle with ovarian cancer last month. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to complete the quilt in the time she had left, Susan asked Janice to finish it.
Susan had hand-appliquéd the 26 letters of the alphabet onto 6″ squares of muslin. She had also appliquèed four pockets onto print squares; the pockets came from clothes that belonged to her daughter when she was a little girl.
The first thing Janice and I did was lay the blocks out in a 5 x 6 grid, with the four pocket blocks interspersed among the 26 alphabet blocks. We’re pretty sure that’s what Susan had in mind because she had already sewn the first row together:
The fabrics in the alphabet blocks are vintage calicos. The letters seem to have been randomly placed in the muslin squares, rather than centered, giving the blocks a delightfully whimsical appearance. Janice and I decided to separate the rows with sashing strips made from muslin, add muslin sashing strips all around the quilt, then finish it with a 3″ or 4″ border made from calico prints similar to the ones Susan used in her blocks. With a 4″ border, the quilt should finish at about 36″ x 51″.
A couple of the letters — j and m — were really too close to one edge of the squares they were attached to so I added strips of muslin and trimmed the blocks. Here is the m block, before and after:
Susan had hand-stitched the first row together with ½” seams. Her stitches were so even I had to look closely to confirm that they were indeed done by hand! I opted to take the stitching out so that all the blocks can be sewn with ¼” seams. That will really help with the letters that are close to the edges of the muslin squares.
Here is the first row with its muslin sashing added:
This quilt will help tie three generations of women together. I feel honored that Janice has asked me to help her finish it.
What a beautiful remembrance from her Mother and memories from material used for some of the pockets… Thanks for helping Janice, that was a nice thing you are doing… Hugs
What a wonderful gift!
What a beautiful gift you are working on for this grand baby…A true treasure forever!!!
I can’t wait to see this finished! What a wonderful gift. I always want to leave tangible evidence that I existed. If a quilt is all that remains, I hope it speaks well of me — for many generations to come.
Such a wonderful project. Can’t wait to see it completed.
It’s absolutely fabulous Dawn! You’re amazingly talented and it doesn’t surprise me at all that you are taking on this truly special project. What a gift. XO
Bonjour, Dawn!
What a lovely remembrance for this child. Thank you for sharing this. You will let us see the finished product, as well, I hope!
A worthy project
Sweet. The first thing I would have done was cried, which I’m close to doing now. I know this will be so treasured by that family for years to come.
Dawn is truly a wonderful neighbor and quilter and I am so grateful to her for helping, really
completing, this quilt for my dear friend Susan.
Thousands of thanks from all Susan’s family especially her daughter Lea and granddaughter
Susan Elinor.
Can’t wait to see the final rendition…
Janice
It is so wonderful of you to share your quilting gift in this project with Janice. A lovely example of who you are and why you are one of the finest people I know and love!
xxxooo your twin, Diane
Dawn is so generous in including me in the making of this quilt but hope you all understand that
she truly did the lion’s share of pulling it all together. Susan’s family and I are truly grateful.