Meet Lauren, a bright, vibrant, caring, dynamic and loving daughter and sister. When she asked us to find a way of using almost 70 photos and other memorabilia in a quilt for a Christmas gift for her Mom and Dad, we knew we had to know the back story.
Ten years ago, her brother Matt was lost to a car accident. But he never left the hearts of Lauren and her family. Matt is a real presence in their lives even today and Lauren wanted to celebrate him and her family in as personal a way as possible. She so wanted to celebrate his life and its place within her close circle.
In May of 2011, Lauren contacted us and we began the design of the quilt. Her key desire was to incorporate as many pictures as possible yet not make the quilt into a static grid-like design. Lauren constantly reminded us that the pictures needed to appear to be random and not align at all – a very difficult requirement when one works with straight seams! This project became a real clandestine task too, with Lauren sneaking photos and other items of clothing from her parent’s house to add to the quilt. She even volunteered to do the task of getting each photo printed onto fabric before the project began in earnest.
This was a real technical challenge for us! Seventy pictures, Matt’s digitized signature (Sew It Out-by Andrea W.), embroidered designs ranging from a mimic of a favorite kitchen towel saying – actually a favorite quote of Matt’s, a monogrammed tie, a Longhorn design symbolizing the family’s devotion to the University of Texas, integration of Matt’s tie and corduroy shirt and even words of a treasured hymn 
all had to be created and added into a fixed space while making sure that nothing was specifically lined up next to each other. 
We broke the design up into 6 separate sections, adding the gold fabric around and between each ephemera, then adding more fabric when things began to naturally line up. Lots of sewing and un-sewing, that’s for sure! When we joined all 6 sections, the prayer was that it would all join well and that the quilt be even and straight. It was not. Then came the measuring and re-measuring on the horizontal, vertical and diagonal, using all the formulas learned long ago in Geometry class – Oh Boy! But finally it was together and straight and an almost perfect rectangle.
Now for the quilting. Chris took over at this point and did her usual superior job, enhancing the photos with her own special quilting designs, making sure not to quilt through any of the faces. She literally cried over the quilt, sharing in the sentiments we now felt about Lauren and Matt and their parents. She prayed over the quilt, thinking of the hymn and scripture passages. And she beamed her beautiful smile when she felt the love of this wonderful young woman for her family.
One final challenge: Lauren wanted a label on the back of the quilt effectively containing a letter to her parents. When I tried to embroider it on my home embroidery attachment, it would not fit – it was over 60,000 stitches! By now, we were getting close to Christmas and I was panicking! Off I went to find someone to stitch out the label for me (Dotz Doodlez). It got sewn on, the binding was completed and Lauren picked up her gift. As we shared a joint moment of peace and pleasure, tears welled in our eyes. We were glad that we were able to achieve the challenging project, but it was a bittersweet moment knowing that this long journey was about to end for us and that the quilt would be going off to its new home.
The best was yet to come – she gave it to her parents on Christmas Eve and sent me a text filled with the joy of her parents. They were truly thrilled and deeply touched. “Gave the quilt last night…lots of joyful tears! Thank you again for making such a beautiful memory keepsake! “ To top it off, she just brought her Mom to meet us and we again got to share in the deep love this family feels for each other. Her Mom is a joy to be around and it is clear where Lauren gets her beauty – both inside and out!
We were honored to be part of this unique gift. Thanks Lauren for allowing us into your life and getting to share a lifetime of memories and family with us.
Susan and Chris
overthetopquilting
What a wonderful story! It’s a beautiful quilt Aunt Sue!
OMG! how beautiful. You can see the love that was put into the quilt from the family to Sue workmanship. Very, very moving. Thank you so much for sharing.
Love
Evelyn
A beautiful and touching story, obviously earnestly felt, and very well told. A marvelous, challenging, and ultimately beautiful quilt – extremely well designed and executed. You ladies are gems – to your clients, your friends, and to your family.