In honor of National Quilting Day, I wanted to share photos of just a few of the quilts that I created for customers in 2018. Each customer ‘s request is different. Some customers had specific fabrics in mind for their quilts; others gathered t-shirts or clothing from a child or loved one to use when making the quilt. This type of quilt is referred to as a “Memory quilt”. Other customers had quilt tops already pieced together and they just needed to have the top quilted together with backing fabric and batting. (See the Vintage quilt for an example of this.)
I’ve been making Memory quilts for customers for years…probably have made 25 to 30 of them in the last decade! They make great gifts for kids going off to college, wedding gifts, anniversary gifts, baby gifts, and of course, gifts to the family in memory of a loved one who passed away. The T-shirt quilt was one that I made for a dentist who has asked me to make numerous Memory Quilts for his children and grand-children over the years. He collects their t-shirts, or he’ll purchase t-shirts and memorabilia, and give those items to me to include in the memory quilts I’ve made for his family. 
I’ve also made a number of quilted gifts for friends during 2018. The Best Friends Forever Quilt is a pattern I designed (QuiltingWithLori Designs©) and gifted to my friend, Jeanette. She and I have been friends for over 20 years. She’s recently retired and moved south… I miss seeing her each week, but will now get to make trips to visit my friend!
Last summer I made a Picnic Quilt for a newly married couple on staff at our church. I included a picnic basket as part of the gift. For this quilt, I used a Missouri Star quilt Tutorial pattern. It is a Charm quilt pattern, which is set on point…fast and fun to make.
Another customer quilt was done in patriotic themed fabrics. it turned out very well….quite a large quilt! The customer had a panel for the center medallion as well as themed Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines fabrics which he wanted included in the quilt. Borders and sashing were used to add width to the quilt, as the center panel was quite long, but rather narrow. I did create an in-depth post about this quilt last summer. Check it out in my earlier blogs! https://quiltingwithlori.com/2018/10/22/quilt-land-free-home-brave/
A customer requested a “yellow” quilt for her mother for Mother’s Day last year. She gave me three blocks which had family photos printed on them. She also gave me some fabrics from her grandmother’s clothing as well as themed fabric she purchased to include in the quilt. Yellow is her mother’s favorite color; hence the border and sashing is bright yellow fabric! (Note: the dark round item on the left corner of the quilt in the photo is a rock to keep the wind from moving the quilt while taking the photo!!) Notice the black and white block in the quilt: it is the neckline placket of a favorite top that was worn by the customer’s grandmother… I like to incorporate favorite pieces of clothing in Memory Quilts!
Quilting for friends and customers is something that I enjoy! If you have a quilt that you would like made for a friend or loved one, please contact me at quiltingwithlori@gmail.com.
You can check out my website here https://quiltingwithlori.com/quilt-making/ for information on having me “Make a Quilt” for you. Or, if you already have the quilt top made and just need someone to quilt the top for you, check out my website here https://quiltingwithlori.com/machine-quilting/ for information on having me “Quilt” the quilt top for you!
For those of you who are Quilters, be sure to spend some time tomorrow in your quilt and sewing rooms!
Enjoy and Quilt something today!
Lori Dickman