Bereavement Quilt for Pete’s wife Debbie

Last of all, I made a simple quilt for my client, Pete’s wife, who is also a mother and a grandmother.  She loved simple traditional quilts and he had such beautiful shirts, that I was able to make a simple but very elegant quilt for her.  The blocks in the quilt are made from eight different shirts. She sent one very interesting t-shirt to be used in this quilt – the cornerstone shirts.  A tenth light blue silk shirt formed the inner border.  In the corners are bits of Pete’s swimming trunks – a special request.

Debbie has always been generous in her praise. After receiving this quilt and some of the others, she wrote: “Not only did you capture the spirit of my husband in these beautiful quilt, but you captured the spirit of the person receiving each one. Each design was simply perfect for each of us. I think I will not only think of Pete each time I touch mine but you as well. Kendall smells her dad (even though the clothes were washed and/or dry cleaned). I just love  them all.”

Generous lady!

Bereavement Pillow

Bereavement Pillow

I made this pillow as a gift to Debbie – because Pete’s suit was so gorgeous yet I hadn’t been able to use it in the quilts.  And though I did use bits of her wedding dress in both her daughter and her granddaughter’s quilts (see previous blogs), I saved the front panel for this pillow.  The front of the pillow shows Debbie’s wedding dress encased by Pete’s suit jacket.  The red “handkerchief” in the pocket is actually a piece of his silk pajamas.

I bought a pre-made pillow in matching satin and took it apart to insert the dress panel and front of the jacket, then sewed it back together with the “front” of the pillow (which actually matched the wedding dress) as the back, leaving the zipper intact.

Debbie wrote that she gave this pillow to her daughter, as it would mean so much to her.