Story Quilt

Tracy lost her beloved father and wanted a quilt depicting their life together.  She wrote me about him, how he loved his career as a policeman, how he loved to play golf, but most of all, how he loved his family. I fashioned a story quilt that took him from the day he won her in a custody battle to the imagined golf game he might be playing somewhere off in heaven today. There were eight blocks, each depicting a special situation with her Dad, including the day she got married.

Tracy was so excited upon receiving her story quilt, that she wrote me, “Rosie what you have made from my fathers clothes is absolutely priceless.  I could sit and stare at it for hours on end.  It will be the best piece of art I will ever own.”

I was so touched by the effect that my quilt had on Tracy that I’m printing (with her permission) much of her e-mail to me upon receiving the quilt (which had been a bit delayed since I moved in the middle of making it.)

Tracy continues, “It is almost like it was sent from my dad to out the sadness of his death and to help me remember the special times which is hard to do, but now I know when I am overcome with sadness I can pull out the quilt and a smile comes over me. Also I think there was a reason that I had to wait for it because it could not have come at a better time with Christmas right here and the first one ever without him.”

Tracy’s has two daughters, and the oldest is about eight.  She wrote “My oldest daughter was just as amazed as I was when she saw it. She was telling me I better hang it in a safe place so it doesn’t get dirty (like I didn’t know that already) so for now we have it in the box until we can agree on the safest place for it. What your talent has provided to me this Christmas is something words can not express. We did however already put the smaller one on the couch and fought over who was gonna use it last night, so I think another small one will be in order real soon.”

She went on to add, “You have truly given me something no one has since I lost my dad – a little sense of his security. I also agree that I will never find a man as good as my dad . . . You will never truly know what our quilt will mean to me. I have been looking forward to the first of the year thinking 2010 was just doomed from the start and think in 2011 it has to be better and your quilt has definitely made a great start to that and makes me think I do have happy memories and need to remember them and stop dwelling on just the death. And now I know with your quilt I will aways see the happy times and that the death happens but it doesn’t always mean its a bad thing seeing the car ride off us waving and his golf game in heaven with the angels.”

“Those two scenes made me realize death happens and people we need have to die also but it doesn’t make it a bad thing. It is sad but I know my dad wouldn’t want me sad and we knew the love we have and with that I need to be strong and have the happiness I did when he was here and remember the happiness we had that noone can take from me ever. Your quilt has done all of that for me and there is no way I could ever thank you enough or tell you just the amount you have helped me realize that and you have started 2011 off early and just the way I needed it to start.”

I don’t believe anyone could say it better – the help that a bereavement quilt can be when you are grieving.

Tracy had wanted a small quilt made from the clothes for her children to share.  I made the little quilt above from clothes left over.  It isn’t a story quilt, but it did make Tracy realize she wanted to have another meaningful quilt that she could wrap herself in, since the story quilt needed to hang on a wall.

After some thought, she asked if I could make a quilt featuring her father’s badge, since this was an important part of his career as a law enforcement officer. Below is the quilt I made depicting a South Carolina policeman’s badge.  It tells its own story.

Everyone has a story but not everyone wants a quilt that tells a story. If you think this is an option for you, please contact me and we can discuss it.