Top: Richmond,1898 61"x 76"Bottom: Union Made, 48"x 50"
Scrapbook quilts are full of memories and mementoes of our lives. Scrapbook quilts include signature quilts, memory quilts, timespan quilts, photo quilts and more. One of mine is a Lone Star quilt I did in reproduction fabrics imagining it was a quilt my Grandmother Coghill could have made with her sisters. I called it Richmond, 1898 because Richmond, VA was their home town. My scrapbook quilts include memory quilts in honor of my mother (two posted earlier), timespan quilts using vintage feedsacks and vintage blocks as well as signature quilts.
Probably the most obvious example of a scrapbook quilt is my quilt "Union Made." I cut apart the jacket of my 1980s TWA flight attendant uniform, added photos and quilt blocks to create a scrapbook without pages. Another quilt features palm trees reminiscent of my childhood in Miami Springs, FL. From doll quilts to full size quilts you can create with your own photos and scraps and leftover blocks and, of course, your memories.
To make your own scrapbook quilt, gather your possibilities. Choose a focus or starting point and use a design-as-you-go process. I strongly recommend using a design wall to lay things out and move them around. It is an adventure in possibilities! Scrapbook quilts record our stories using fabric, lace, buttons and other embellishments. Perhaps you'll be inspired to pull together unused blocks or family blocks to combine with photographs (on fabric) and other treasures to make a scrapbook quilt. Once completed you can call yourself a "visual historian".
