Quilts: Novelty Fabrics & T-shirts

Over the years I've made two quilts for my husband and because his birthday is tomorrow, I thought I'd share them with you. Milestones & Memories was made in 1996 and The Ultimate Athlete in 2003.

In 1996 after I made My Allary Quilt, my imagination was running wild. The very idea of using so many fabrics was really exciting. Why not tell Ben's life story?  I started Milestones & Memories in February 1996 and finished it that September. I chose the Indian Hatchet pattern specifically for his part-Native American heritage.

As I planned the quilt I began to write a list of everything I could think of pertaining to his interests. Some of the things I came up with were: Seattle, California, Idaho, basketball, skiing, canoeing, camping, bicycling, handyman, cats, dogs, family, etc.  Once my list was completed, I was ready to look for fabrics that would help tell his story. Some I purchased at Acme Quilt Shop in Pequannock, NJ, and the Fabric Warehouse in Belleville, others at the Rag Shop in E. Hanover. 

I decided that the corner blocks would represent his ancestral roots: Spanish (upper left), Navajo (upper right), English (lower left) and Polish (lower right) and the center block with the four light-colored blocks surrounding it would refer to his immediate family. The fabrics in the remaining blocks were all chosen with his interests, accomplishments, and important events in mind.

I'm in the middle represented by the black and white star fabric. Above and below that are our son and daughter (baby prints); on the left is Ben's dad (pocket watch fabric because he owned one), to the right is his mom (beach fabric because he always took her to the beach when we visited.) 

When I found this map fabric I cut out the section with Seattle (where he was born), California (where he grew up) and Idaho (where he went to college). 

The back has life-size golf club fabric that I had purchased long before I decided to make this quilt. It was one of those purchases I made for use in a future project or to have "just in case" and because Ben was teaching golf at that time it was perfect!

The mountain man fabric in the large Indian Hatchet block on the back represents Ben's gr-grandfather, Charles Autobee, who has been written about extensively in Colorado's history books.

I made a matching pillowcase and put together a scrapbook as the second part of his Christmas present in 1996.

In 2003 I made The Ultimate Athlete using the T-QUILTS pattern that I had ordered from Keepsake Quilting. I tied the layers together with navy blue embroidery floss and was quite pleased with the results. Yes, it was another Christmas present :)




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Copyright 2013, Barbara Schaffer