Eleven Reasons Custom Handmade Quilts Take Time

This is a sample custom quilt profile we offer for customers who decide to give a custom quilt but can’t get it finished in time. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Eleven Reasons Custom Handmade Quilts Take Time

Every once in awhile a potential custom quilt customers asks the question why a custom quilt takes 90 days to make. The answer is simple: they are truly handmade. There’s no big factory, no assembly line, no cookie cutter pattern. All of our custom handmade quilts are unique to the customer and made by hand here in Missouri, USA.

The following are the eleven reasons why custom handmade quilts take time:

1. Our custom handmade quilts are made to a customer’s specifications. It can take a customer who isn’t used to making a handmade quilt extra time to decide on the details such as handmade quilt colors. The colors depend on a variety of factors including sneaking into the recipient’s bedroom to see what colors they have on the walls.

2. The second step is choosing the pattern. We rarely make traditional patterns so its up to the customer to tell us what message they want to convey through the custom handmade quilt and we go from there.

3. Probably the longest step for the customer is deciding what photos to include. The number can depend on the size of photos and the kind of quilt layout they choose for their custom handmade quilt. Collages are the easiest way to include the most photos so that can take some time for the customer to compile and ship to us.

4. If the custom handmade quilt is being made out of someone’s clothes, that step also can take time. We advise customers who are sending us clothes from departed family members to take their time, this becomes part of the grieving process. We listen carefully to the stories they share and try to reflect that in the custom quilts we made for them.

5. If the custom quilt is being made out of someone’s clothing, we like to include a photo somewhere on the custom quilt. Deciding on the one photo can take time.

6. If the customer wants to add a saying or dedication, that can also take time for the customer to decide what to include. We sometimes make suggestions but usually customers have something that strikes them as perfect for the memory.

7. Then there is what font and size for any custom embroidery, which also requires several decisions prior to any work getting started. That way, the custom embroidery is included in the quilt piecing and doesn’t show up on the back of the custom quilt.

8. Quilt batting is what is in the middle of the quilt, giving it warmth. Traditional handmade quilts are all cotton. The majority of contemporary quilts are a mix of cotton and polyester batting, while others are all lightweight polyester. We offer another option, renewable and sustainable bamboo which is very light, similar to cotton but not as damaging to the environment to process.

9. Custom handmade quilts can be made reversible if the customer chooses something besides a white fabric for the backing. Sometimes a customer has a great fabric they want and they order it and ship it to us.

10. What kind of quilting is another decision step, from a pattern overall design to one of my favorites, a meandering machine quilting.

11. Then there are the customers who try to sneak a photo, or two, in after the final design has been approved and work has begun. We try to accommodate if we can but once the piecing is started, the only way to add something is to go back to the drawing board and redesign the layout.

Once we get started on the quilt piecing, the process goes relatively quickly. We send the customer photos once the custom quilt top is finished; or both the top and bottom if there are two custom quilt sides.

After the photo review, it is quilting time, basically finishing the custom handmade quilt.

There are at least four people involved in this process and every one has to fit in the custom quilt into their schedule of other custom work.

We are proud of the final product and we are sure no one else will have a handmade quilt like the one we make for you.

Charlotte

Custom Photo Memory Quilt Frames

Custom photo memory throws can have borders from thin to thick.

One of the questions we often get asked is what size frame to add to photos and artwork in photo memory quilts and throws.

I recommend picking a size that doesn't overwhelm the photos but nicely "frames" the memory. Since it's a custom photo memory quilt or throw, we can make the frame any size you want.

The most popular frame size is half an inch.

Charlotte

Custom Clothes Quilts

Recycling clothing into quilts is a good way to preserve special memories and reuse clothing. Over the years, we've made a number of quilts out of clothes including wedding dresses, favorite khakis, shirts and blouses, baby and children's clothes, handkerchiefs, table cloths - if it's made out of fabric, it can be made into a custom quilt.

Because these quilts are custom, no two are exactly alike. We offer custom clothes quilts photos as ideas to get you started thinking about what kind of custom quilt you would like us to make for you. One of Bluebird Gardens customer favorite combinations is to take a few favorite clothing pieces and add photos printed onto fabric. Custom Clothing Quilts have also been made into quilted wall hangings when we've added a sleeve on the back so the finished quilt can easily be hung on a wall for a room focal point.

Custom Patchwork Block Quilts

Customers have also sent us men's suits, shirts, t-shirts and ties we've made into custom patchwork block quilts. On the back side, we added ties with embroidered names of the individuals getting the clothing memory quilts. These custom patchwork block quilts feature patchwork blocks on the front and variable sized clothing blocks on the back, making these quilts easily reversible.

Custom Wedding Dress Quilts

Wedding and bride's maid dresses are good candidates for custom quilts and throws. Depending on fabrics in the dresses, many can be preserved in custom patchwork quilts. Some dresses, made out of organza and silk, may not be the best candidates for custom quilts.

Custom Baby Clothes Quilts

Whether it's saving favorite baby clothes, or making quilts out of baby clothes pieces, we can also make custom baby clothes quilts that can be charming and unique home decor. Custom Thrown Kids Clothes Quilt was a birthday gift for a Dad who loved the idea of a quilt made out of his kids clothes spread all over the bed. And no need to pick anything up!

Charlotte

Along Came a Spider

It really is all in the details.

When we make clothing quilts, we take off buttons and other embellishments so we can add them back when the quilting is completed.

One of our custom quilts out of clothing had a number of ribbons. This little spider seemed to come back to life when we added back the orange with black pocka dot ribbon!

Charlotte

Thought for Today

I wish I could meet her.

She’s expecting a child after a long ordeal with earlier unsuccessful attempts and we are making a special custom baby quilt for her.

We have been emailing about nursery colors and finally have our palette and saying she wants embroidered in the center of the baby quilt:

"Weeping may endure for a night but Joy comes in the morning. Psalms 30."

Charlotte