Celebrating his life

The death of Murray the cat severed another link with Geoffrey, my grand-daughter’s boyfriend who died tragically a couple of years ago. A message on the Southern Cross Quilters internet group recently mentioned “Mourning Quilts”, made in memory of loved ones. When Geoffrey died, I offered to make two quilts in memory of Geoffrey, one for my grand-daughter Emma and the other for Geoffrey’s Mum. The offer was accepted and the pair of them sorted through the clothing and labelled which items they wanted included in their particular quilt. I used tee shirts, sweat shirts, work shirts, ties and even satin boxer shorts. They both requested that particular badges and labels be incorporated. Some clothing was used in both, for example, Geoffrey’s High Visibility tunics found a place in each quilt. Both quilts had a similar layout, and I used shirting for the sashings. Jeans pockets found a place in the quilts, as did the ripped knees from Geoffrey’s favourite pair of jeans.

Emma’s memory quilt

I stitched a border of hearts along the top of Emma’s quilt, using silk from Geoffrey’s ties. In the centre of this border, I added the pocket from his ball shirt, with the tip of a tie peeking out to replicate a hanky. The “Bite Me” panel is from a pair of satin boxer shorts.

Quilt made for Geoffrey’s Mum

I liked the idea of a border at the top of these quilts, so appliquéd his name, using tie fabric again, on the top of this quilt for Geoffrey’s Mum. The two dragons in each corner came from another pair of satin boxer shorts. There were certainly plenty of tears shed when we finally delivered the finished quilts, about the time of the first anniversary of Geoffrey’s death. I think they are part of the healing process too, the quilts can be looked at, touched, and wrapped around oneself. It was a honour for me to be involved in this project, in memory of Geoffrey.

Shopping bag made for Geoffrey’s Mum

I had plenty of flannelette shirting scraps left over so I made this shopping bag for Geoffrey’s Mum as an extra .

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