Can you help me design an unforgetable quilt?

[mompea]

Hello!I'm an old newbie. I've been sewing for years but always clothes for my 2 children, for me,I've upholstered furniture all while working full time as a critical care nurse. I medically retired due to MS so sewing is a real challenge. My daughter just received her PhD. I'm so proud. I had been working on cross stitch squares highlighting HS, Bachelor, Masters and Doctorate experiences that I want to join with quilt squares and ultimately make a wall hanging. I'm open to any and all advice. The cross stitch squares range from 4" squares to 8"squares. Examples of the cross stitch squares are her first car- a little red Honda hatchback, a square of her clarinet with music,and a musical stand, she was in her HS pom pom squad so I have a list of all the girls names, her poms-this is 3 dimensional and a black and white saddle shoe that they used to wear and I also made 1 square that has miniatures of every dress she wore to all of the proms she attended. So, can you help me? I can follow patterns but I'm not very creative.

[gershwin64]

Mompea, welcome! Wow those sound awesome! I don't have any ideas at the moment but I'm looking forward to see what you come up with! You are creative! ) If you go introduce yourself in the sewin section, we have daily discussions there and maybe some of them can help with ideas )
Tina

[Rose92]

If you go on the Missouri Star Quilt Company web site and look thru all Jenny's tutorials, I am sure you will find a simple one you will like. She makes it so easy and give good directions. I love using her simple quilts for all the baby quilts I have to make. Those babies just keep comin'!!

**Linda

[rosebud3]

How many blocks will there be? What dimensions do you want it to finish at?

# 4" blocks?
# 8" blocks?
Finished length desired?
Finished width desired?

In order to help you design a layout for your quilt top, this information would be needed in order to graph it out. Also, you would need to decide if it needs to be chronological or if the requirements would only be to get the different sizes to fit together like a puzzle. Hope this will help get started. Come back and let us know what other help you need.

Mary/Rosebud

[Marilynsgrammy]

you are the coolest mom ever. what a great gift for your daughter. it will be a very treasured piece no matter what you make.

You could add borders around the embroidered blocks to make them all the same size. maybe use music fabric for the clarinet or something cheer-ish for the pom pom's ect.

Once the blocks are all the same size it will be easier to even everything up and add a block in the same size. Quilterscache.com has some great blocks in many different sizes.

Another cool thing would be to get some fabric sheets that fit in your printer and add pictures of her at different ages. then you could just sew squares together rather than make quilt blocks.

please consider posting a picture, I so would love to see it. your daughter is very blessed to have you be her mom.

[mompea]

Thank you to every one of you marvelous and thoughtful women. I so appreciate all of your input. I am thinking of adding fabric so all my cross stitch blocks will be the same size, as one of you lovelies suggested. I had thought of using different quilt patterns for each block, or do you think it would only make a busy quilt more busy and then probably not be appreciated? I am trying to make this as easy for myself as possible-HA! as if a quilt could be easy.I had thought 10" squares as that is the largest cross stitch square I have when I add a 1" border around it. It's going to be amass of colors because of the colors of the high school(black and gold) and 3 universities (brown and yellow, green and white and red and white)she attended. I currently have 11 cross stitch squares and will be doing 2 or 3 more. I think I will have 5 squares wide by 7 squares long or 50" X 70" then the bindings and edgings. Finished size- bloody big! I will go to the Missouri Star Quilt Company's web site for added ideas, thank you Rose for that suggestion. I am not very familiar with quilting sites, so any and all directives that way are most helpful to me. I will post pictures of the quilt in its on going stages with the final picture of the completed quilt. I just hope my health holds out and my body lets me work on this project as much as I'd like. I can't thank you enough for your kindness and help.

[purrfect-lady]

you could use a variety of star blocks because your DD is such a star! Congratulations to her! Personally, I like different sized blocks in a quilt and you could make smaller stars for those smaller X-stitched blocks. you could use novelty fabrics to depict the different stages of her life, or batiks (on black is always striking) or in her favorite colors. (My DD is partial to the colors and tones in Civil War fabrics). I would LOVE to see a photo of your work!

congratulations on a great career of your own! So sorry you had to take a medical retirement. I was an NICU nurse for 20 years.

[scrapquilter48]

mompea I can hardly wait to see your quilt.. Is sounds great already..
Great gift it will be..

[scrapquilter48]

My mother had ALS, I was knitting Nordic sweaters in the evenings to be beside her, one Sunday I returned to the city, work awaited and had left my Nordic knitting at home, never felt so empty my hands had nothing to keep busy.. Low/behold when I returned the sweater was finished, boy did I laugh, my mother had the same great feeling in knitting that I had.. She insisted on knitting to keep her hands and mind intact, well her mind was intact then she asked if the sweater could be given to my fathers favorite sister.

Then, tog. we started another sweater, because of her illness, mobility was an issue, but this made us both happy and closer tog.

Yours is cross stitch much more of a challenge I must say than yarn.
Today, I can say that my finger dexterity with computers and concentration is more advanced due to all these projects.

I congratulate you for the ability to cross stitch.

[Pilot2b]

WHat a wonderful story. You keep well. I suffer from CFIDS and know how difficult it can be to push on! Welcome to the neighborhood dear lady.

Helen