Dogs are family members too. Make a memory quilt for your dog. Charlie, a client ‘s pet dog of 16 1/2 years had just passed. The family approached me to create an abstract piece of wall art in his memory. The beloved dog was groomed every two weeks. Each time he returned home with a colorful bandana tied around his neck. The bandanas could be made into a piece of art to keep his memory alive.
A Lot of Color!
There were about 30 different pieces of fabric bandanas. Holidays and special day themes were common with a wide range of colors. In addition,there were not a lot of solid colors for eyes to rest on. In a busy art quilt, I like to include places for eyes to rest on. The first steps was choosing a pleasant color wave. The client requested a lot of color for the memory quilt for her dog.
Choosing the colors-the most challenging part.
Choosing the colors became the most challenging part. Did I mention that the client and I lived on different coasts? Once the client sent me the bandanas then I could begin to suggest some colors. Phone communication, photos and texts were important. I thought that I heard her say that she wanted as many of the fabrics used as possible. So how could I do that?
Being Flexible
I started by putting the fabric on my design wall. First, I thought of arranging the fabrics from light to dark. I cut a few pieces of fabric into rectangles. Then, I stopped myself. I shouldn’t spend time cutting out fabric if I wasn’t sure which fabrics would be used. That turned out to be a wise choice. Being flexible is very important.
As it turned out, most of the fabrics did not make it into the final piece. The client realized that the fabrics were too different to fit into a coherent piece. In other words, all of the pieces did not need to be used.
Meanwhile, during this time the clients were downsizing their house. They weren’t sure where the finished piece would be nor its size. As it turned out, the size needed to be 21″ x 19″ (54 cm x 49 cm).
On the other hand,the size of my commissioned works are usually larger. This smaller size limits the number of fabrics. I usually choose 4-5 fabrics. In addition, I remember the rule of 3 to balance out the fabrics on the top of the quilt. Nonetheless, all turned out well.
Red ,blue and white bandanas? More choices.
Would red and blue fabric work ? I put these bright bandanas together. However, once I said that they were red, white and blue it sounded too patriotic.
Would pinks and blue fabric work ?
The Client’s Choice
What finally caught the client’s eye was the bright fabric with many frogs on it!The bright warm colors of the active frogs fit the bill. Those colors guided me to a memory quilt for a dog.
From there I choose the bandanas that matched the frog fabric. Then I cut rectangles of various sizes, about 2″ x 3″ – 4″( 5cm x 8cm-10cm) and placed them on the design wall. I made sure that the fabrics were balanced. No one fabric was overpowering a side or quadrant. I sewed the pieces together to complete the top.
The fabrics were the stars of the piece so I wanted to minimize the quilting.I lightly quilted stitch in the ditch in the seams. Many clients are drawn to the fabrics of the patchwork. They are not concerned with fancy quilting for a memory quilt for a dog.
Plan Ahead
Even though the ties need to go on at the end, one must plan ahead to include them in the beginning. Only the black and white one, made it one to the finished product. That is fine.
Here is what the client said about the finished piece.
“I just wanted to tell you that it’s absolutely beautiful and I will cherish this with all my heart and soul. Thank you so much for such a beautiful job no words can describe what this means to me. Thank you again. ” Susan
https://annbaldwinmayartquilts.com/2020/11/memory-quilts-i-have-made/
https://annbaldwinmayartquilts.com/2021/10/something-about-memory-quilts/