Before sewing the quilt I made myself several experimental projects using various photo to fabric techniques. I found Ami Simms' Photos-To-Fabric® Transfer Paper to be the easiest, most effective, and long-lasting. Some of the other techniques did not hold up after multiple washing either fading or peeling off of the fabric. Using Ami’s transfer paper technique I made myself a nursing scrub jacket covered with transferred pictures. I then washed the jacket 20 times before I felt satisfied the technique would hold up well in a quilt project. In the fall of 2003 after taking a class from Davison Fabrics I started piecing my quilt together. I treated each picture individually, selecting a color from the photograph and using a fabric to enhance the picture. I used a combination of crazy quilting and log cabin to build my blocks. With the help of my daughter, we planned how the pictures would go together growing around the core pictures of my parent’s pictures. Most fabrics in the quilt had come from scraps left over from kids' clothing and other sewing projects I had made. I had included several blank areas. I am gradually embroidering the names and important family dates into the quilt. I made labels that identified the time, place and people in the pictures using a computer graphic program. This is to help future generations to identify the ancestors in the quilt. It took me over two months to finish the quit but it has been one of the most satisfying projects I have ever worked on. This quilt was given to my mother for Christmas of 2003 and has held the place of honor in her home since then. Anna Palmer |