Grandma’s Sweater…

Last month a good friend’s mother passed away.    Her mother was old, almost 90, but that doesn’t matter, a mother is a mother and I don’t think any of us take the loss of a mother very well.

The other day my friend brought me this old Christmas sweater that her mom use to wear EVERY Christmas.  It’s wool she said.  You make things from wool…could I possibly turn this into some Christmas ornaments for her and her two children…to remember Grandma by.  I looked at it…it’s a sweater…not wool fabric…stretchy and sparkly…but I didn’t say this…one look on her grieving face and I knew I had to try something.

Then from the same bag she pulled out this…a silky gawd awful purple and pink short set…the kind that a Grandma’s would wear in the summer…could I possibly turn this into a pillow for her daughter?

YIKES!!

How could I say NO?  (This from the person who kept an old flannel nightie of her mother’s…a nightie that after 34 years of missing her mom is now all tattered and worn!)  No, I knew exactly where she was coming from!

So Sunday was the day for (hopefully) transformations to occur!…I started on the short set…sheesh where to start?  Did I mention that it is made from that silky, slippery fabric?

First before I did anything, I needed to stabilize the fabric…so like any good quilter I layered it with cotton backing and sandwiched Warm and Natural batting in the middle and treated it like a quilt~   

I quilted it together with a wavy line of quilting….

It was much easier to handle when I had finished quilting it…

 

Tah-dah!  Well it’s still purple and pink but at least it’s now a pillow!  A pillow that her daughter can hug now and then and think of grandma!  Now…back to the sweater…I hand washed it in hot water but because of the sequins, I couldn’t felt it in the dryer…so although it shrunk, it was still VERY stretchy!  Heat N Bond Lite to the rescue! 

Presto!  Three heart shaped ornaments (I kept the shape simple because of the stretchiness)…and considering what I had to work with, I think they turned out pretty darn cute!

And with the remaining sequined motifs I made a wool penny! 

Not my usual penny for sure…I am hoping my friend has a framed picture of her mom in her Christmas sweater that she can place on the penny and give it a place of honour…

Pretty darn cute…

…and a special way to remember a wonderful mom and grandma! 

Hope you have a terrific Tuesday and Happy Quilting~P