Holding on to Memories

      After F2 and I had been married for about 7 years we were clearing out some old clothing and decided we had way too many old t-shirts. But they all really meant something to us, whether sweet, silly, or downright gross. So F2 cut out the fronts or backs of the shirts and put them into this collage-ish collection, glued onto foam core. It has hung out in the garage since that time...about 35 years. It always makes me smile:)

     After F2 died when the boys were in high school, I could not part with any of his stuff for years...see grief during the holidays. F2 had always collected t-shirts. He loved them, all kinds...from trips, from establishments, for cars, for beer, anything was fair game. When he died he had TONS of t-shirts that I couldn't and wouldn't let go of. After 14 years I decided to put these shirts into memory quilts for the boys. Considering that I don't sew...hate it, and don't own a sewing machine...these are definitely a labor of love for my guys. A lovely neighbor sewed the fronts together from my patterns, but the rest was done completely by hand...with sore fingers, but a full heart to show for it.
     This one is Scott's:

     This is Chad's:

     Each quilt is 7' by 7' which means that each one has well over 49 t-shirts in it....you can tell some of the squares have 2 or 4 smaller squares in them.  I still have enough to make a quilt for myself, but I can take a lot more time for that. Did you think I was kidding when I said F2 loved t-shirts??? What do you think now??


    I hope you always decide for yourself what is an important memory to keep. Other people may have what they think is your best interest in mind....but if I had gotten rid of all of F2's things all those years ago, I wouldn't be able to share these great memory quilts with Scott and Chad.


Happy Parenting!
D and C