What to Include in a Patchwork Quilt for Your Child

Many times while cleaning out my daughter's closet, I find things that probably should be thrown away, but I can't bear to part with them. Some are just so cute, or remind me so much of her, or were worn on such a special occasion. A patchwork quilt is a great way to preserve memories using old clothes, and create an heirloom-quality gift to give your child when he or she gets older. You can include both patches from stained or torn clothes you don't want to throw out, and patches from special times in your child's life that you want to remember. You can also include patches of other cloth items, such as blankets or book bags, and even other non-cloth items.

Clothes

Try to set aside an item of clothing in each size your child has worn to be put in the quilt. You don't have to stick to just ruined clothes for your child's quilt, though. You can also put in patches of special clothes in your child's life. For example, the outfit he wore when she came home from the hospital, his first little suit, the clothes he wore to his first day of school, etc. Make it fun and interesting by having different textures in the quilt: a patch of corduroy pants, a patch of a dress with lace on it, a patch from a satiny graduation gown, a patch from a knitted sweater, etc.

Other Cloth items

There are many other cloth items that can be used in a quilt for your child. For example, once she has finished using her first book bag, you can cut off a patch to be used in the quilt. You may want to include a patch of curtains or a blanket from when you designed her nursery, or cut out a piece of a cute umbrella your child used. Just for fun, you could include a piece of a bib stained by too much spit-out peas and carrots, or a smock your child got globs of paint on.

Other Items

You may also want to include other, non-cloth items in your quilt, especially if you intend for it to be just a decorative quilt. For example, a hair clip or bow is a cute addition to a quilt. It can be sewn on to the patch of a dress that was worn at the same time. A graduation tassel is another idea. You could sew tassels on to the four corners of the quilt, if your child has had four graduations. I would add some of my daughter's play jewelry because she loves dressing up so much and it reminds me of her.

Write everything down

It may seem impossible now, but 10 years down the line you may forget that your son's cute green polo shirt that you've saved was the shirt he wore when he met his baby sister for the first time, or that the baby blue patch with clouds on it was part of his swaddling blanket. So keep a description of each patch: where it came from, how old your child was when they wore it, and why you decided to save it. You can simply keep them written down in a notebook. Once you are done with the quilt, get a nice piece of heavy cardstock and draw lines to divide it in to as many squares as your child's quilt has. Then, in each square, write down the details that your child will want to know about each square.

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