Carrie Hyun, in Portland Maine, contacted me in July 2011, about making two quilts from her husband Sam’s clothing for her young children Ezra and Vera. Sam died of cancer at the age of 34, when Ezra was only four years old and Vera one.
Carrie sent me Sam’s clothes which included dress and casual shirts, sports clothing, shorts, jeans, and sweaters, along with a few pieces of clothing from each of her children, and a red nightgown of her own.
In order to work within Carrie’s budget, we decided on smaller sized nap quilts suitable for her young children, limited the amount of clothing items to ten, and settled on a simple one patch improvised design with striped sashing.
I cut the clothing she sent into large blocks in such a way as to feature different architectural elements, such as a pocket, a logo, a ruffle, etc. I then made striped fabric from the rest of the clothing in different color ways for each quilt. The quilts were approx. 55″ x 45″, machine pieced, hand quilted, and took 11 hours each for a total of 22 hours to complete.
Sam Hyun (1977-2011) Memorial Quilt for Vera, 2012, 54″ x 44″, machine pieced, hand quilted, clothing
Sam Hyun (1977-2012) Memorial Quilt for Ezra, 2012, 51″ x 45″, machine pieced, hand quilted, clothing
It was great collaborating with Carrie and an honor to make these quilts for her children. Carrie, Ezra, and Vera were very pleased with the results:
Just wanted to let you know that we received the quilts today. They are a big hit
The kids and I love them! They are snuggled up with them right now, fast asleep. Ezra said if daddy were here he would share his quilt but since he’s not he wants to keep it all for himself! Thanks for doing such a great job. It was well worth every penny
Love, Carrie
For more information on Passage Quilting as a bereavement process, or to see more examples of memorial quilts, please visit my other website ~ PassageQuilts.com.
i always get teary when i look at your memory quilts. i can’t imagine the pain of losing a husband and loving father. your quilts are a gift of healing and love.
i can’t believe that you finished each in 11 hours! really? does that include looking at the clothes, designing, cutting, sewing, sandwiching, quilting, and binding? that is amazing!
each of your memory quilts are so powerful. what a blessing.
Good question – I always spend some time just thinking things over and then there was the preliminary sketch and time consulting with the client that are not included in the 11 hrs.
That’s lovely, Sherri.
Your work is a conduit for the Divine. Such a blessing, not just for the family but for us readers to see such work in a world that feels bombarded with negative news.
Wow! Most excellant project. What a beautiful finish.
Beautiful quilts and what a lovely thing to do for the children-they can cherish and remember their Dad!
the reason these quilts were made is sooo sad. ugh, so young and with little kids. heart breaking. but the quilts are fabulous. really love how you put them together. I’ve never thought of leaving the buttons on this way and it looks really good. congrats.
This brought tears to my eyes, as my own project awaits my attention. Thanks for sharing.
so lovely Sherri Lynn!
I loooove these quilts, fantastic, charming,fun ,cozy,and brilliant design and way to memorialize a loved one,joy in remembering and incredibly joyfull quilts,can you tell I’m a fan?