The life cycle of a Custom Made Amish Memory Quilt is one that can span a
life time of memories and recollections of a person or a family. This type of quilt can be formed in two separate paths, which is chosen by the persons or family whose memories will be placed in the quilt.
The old fashioned memory quilt is one that uses the patches and fabrics of past articles of clothing that were worn. This is the source of the memories when the person was wearing the clothes and the events that took place while they were in use. This includes birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries that will bring back memories of these events.
The articles of clothing that really produce the most vivid and number of memories will be the everyday clothes a person wore during their life. One of the most often used article of a woman’s clothes would be the kitchen apron many mothers wore when preparing the meals for her family on a daily basis. The site of the piece of cloth in the memory quilt will spark the thoughts of an event of each person that sees it, and remembers the events that make it memorable. While some events will be the same for the different family members, there will also be individual memories that are unique.
The other path a memory quilt can take today is with the aid of modern technology. This is where a family will rummage through all of their old photos and make a joint submission to the Amish quilter. While the Amish ladies will not be handling the photos, one of their friends will. This is how the photos will be transferred to the cloth so the quilters can stitch them together.
This form of photo memory quilt has grown in popularity since it was first introduced. This allows for anyone to visually see the memories of the family it has recorded in the quilt top. No longer must a person rely on their memories for details and images of an event.
With the photos have been transferred to the cloth, they are then sewn in place. This is the same process as with any Amish quilt. The stitching and embroidery work is of the same quality, the only precaution that it takes is so the images are not hindered by the stitch work.
For most recipients of a custom made Amish memory quilt, they would usually display it differently than with most bed coverings. To avoid the high level of traffic to the bedroom where the quilt is usually placed on a bed, most memory quilts are displayed as wall hangings. This is advantageous for those family members that wish to sit and think about the events and times that the custom made Amish memory quilt has captured in time.
This is how the life cycle of the memory quilt is different than most other custom made Amish quilts. They are on display more, along with being seen and remembered by more members of your family and friends. It is also used to show future generations of your family just who their relatives were and how they lived.