Dad's Quilt

Although I sew all day, I like to have something portable to do in the evening whilst relaxing in front of the box. And this year I decided to make a hand sewn Hexagon quilt. I find hand sewing very relaxing. The last couple of years have been very stressfull, with November 2011 being the worst. Me and my family , experienced the death of my father. It's been a very hard couple of months dealing with the grief, and one of the dreadful tasks that has to de dealt with is what to do with a loved ones clothes when they no longer need them. My father was a well dressed man, I can only ever remember him in jeans when he cut the grass, and his normal attire always include a shirt and mostly a tie. He had a large quantity of suits and more shoes than my mother and me put together!!! So what to do with his clothes? It's too soon to get rid of them, but I don't want my mother to have to deal with this alone. My solution is of course to recycle and sew, and that's what I'm going to do. This is the begining of a hexegon quilt made from his shirts and ties. It's one of the hardest projects I've ever done. It's taken me months to be able to get them out of the bag, and whilst cutting them up I felt an immense sense of guilt. ( I can hear his voice telling me " that's a good shirt!! " he hated to throw anything out). But I want to keep something of him and this way it's useful as well as making me smile. So hopefully in a few months I'll have a memory quilt that reminds me of him and when it's a little chilly I can wrap him around me and feel the comfort of the memory of his hugs. And, as there are plenty of shirts and ties! there is enough for a couple of quilts , one for me and one for my mum. She is having to learn how to live with out him after 50 years of him being around. hopefully she'll find some comfort too!