Quilt 3 of 4: The Geometry of loss

This is the third quilt in a series of four memorial quilts I created for one family, using clothing upcycled from their lost husband, uncle, brother, loved one. I was so honored to be a part of the storytelling of these keepsake quilts and their memories for this particular family, and so humbled to offer these small comforts amid their grief.

An understated homage

The third quilt in this memorial series speaks in a whisper. It doesn’t clamor for attention or announce itself with bright color or intricate details. Instead, it quietly does its job, bringing comfort and warmth, through restraint and simplicity.

The customer and I took our cues from the neutral earth tones of the clothing to be used, and chose a modern, elegant, and spare geometric heart design (all four quilts are heart-based) to celebrate the facets of a life that often go uncelebrated. The quotidian, the elemental, the essential. We often overlook the everyday qualities in the people that we love until we miss them, every day.

Of all the quilts in this series, this one may initially seem the most “boring”, but I prefer to frame it as ‘quiet’ or ‘stable’ or even ‘familiar’. Compared to the visual drama of a deep blue Storm at Sea, of the vibrant playfulness of a more colorful quilt, this neutral monochrome heart is much more subdued. But in our quiet, most “boring” moments, we are our truest and most essential selves.

So I hope this most minimal and subdued quilt in this memorial series captures something just as true and essential about the man it represents, and the empty space he has left behind. I hope that it sparks a memory about his everyday presence, the stability he offered his loved ones, his unpretentious nature.

Fabric Choices: Neutral Clothing Staples that Speak in a Whisper

Color often carries the mood in a quilt, and the palette here is right on target, earthy and elemental, whisper quiet.

The color choice here wasn’t just about mood or aesthetic though, it was also practical. We drew directly from the clothing at hand. As I explained earlier in the series, my role in creating a memorial quilt from clothing items is to use my emotional distance to make aesthetic decisions, so that the customer who has experienced a loss can focus on their emotional connection to the clothing items they want included. I focus on making those clothing items into a visually appealing quilt that fits into their daily life and continues its storytelling journey with them.

So after receiving all the clothing for this entire series of quilts, I grouped them in a way that made sense to me artistically and aesthetically. Then the client took a second look to make sure that the groups stayed true to the emotional significance of each quilt, and the relationship of each quilt’s recipient to the man they memorialized.

The first quilt used a grouping of warm colors and woven fabrics to create the textured Warm Hearts Memorial Quilt. The second quilt used the cool blue clothing, primarily from professional work wear, to create a complex Storm at Sea memorial quilt.

This grouping is all the neutral tones, the earth tones, the grays that don’t lean purple or blue, they just read gray. A monochrome and minimalist palette. Much of this is also professional style clothing, with tweed and shirting textures and sophisticated tone-on-tone stripes. They all fit the bill for understated elegance.

Quilt Pattern: A Heart Built from Halves

At the center of the quilt is a large, geometric heart. While our original direction for the quilt was to construct the heart entirely from half square triangles (HSTs), in the center of the quilt, we ended up with the opposite. A striking heart constructed entirely of negative space, a heart-shaped absence with the rest of the quilt built up around it. I think a lot of people can connect with the concept of continuing to build their lives up around an absence, a heart-shaped space in the middle.

The half-square triangles in subtly different tones give the quilt structure and texture, breaking the surface up into parts, foundational elements, that are then fitted back together just a little differently than before. Quilters love to describe what they do as taking fabric, cutting into smaller pieces, then sewing it back together until it’s large again. It’s meant to be a bit self-deprecating, simplifying it like this, making our craft sound Sisyphean and trivial and a little silly, when we all know it’s not.

But making it sound so simple can also be an invitation. Look how easy making a quilt can be! We just take fabric and cut it up small. We just take those small pieces and sew them back together in a different order!

When sewing a memory quilt, it is an invitation and a reminder. It invites me to use my fun, (sometimes trivial or sometimes simple) skill to help someone through a deeply personal process that all of us experience, grief. It reminds me that even though we are broken down into fragments, we have what we need to begin to put our pieces back together, although they will always be different when we do.

The design and piecing of this quilt were very simple, and the result is a modern, minimalist quilt with clean lines and a graphic statement. There is very little visual noise, just calm and balanced design that lets the white space do the emotional heavy lifting.

Finishing Touches: Minimalism with Meaning

This piece will likely resonate most with people who appreciate minimalism, those who are drawn to clean lines, limited palettes, and modern design. But for those who are grappling with the loss of this man, it offers something beyond style.

The client chose a neutral backing and binding of Ash Gray to complement the minimalist design and color scheme, but decided against the classic minimalist quilting motifs, straight lines or a grid. She went with an allover edge-to-edge pantograph of swirling hearts in white thread, which I think hits just the right complementary note.

The intricate quilting design in a color that blends into the white fabric of the heart makes a celebratory palimpsest over the subdued and staid geometry of the piecing.

Final thoughts and Continuing the Story

Made entirely from neutral toned clothing in creams, taupes and grays, set in a simple and graphic geometric heart, this is the most understated of the four quilts for this family, but no less emotionally complex. The minimalist palette alos makes it the most versatile, as far as style goes.

These are colors that can fit into a family’s life, regardless of their favorite colors or preferred interior decor style. This quilt offers a soothing accent to a minimalist space, or a soft counterpoint to a bolder style element.

Like each quilt in this series, this quilt is meant to capture a different facet of memory and personality that characterize the life of one beloved person. This gentle geometry speaks to nuance, quiet depths, and everyday familiarity.

Whatever memories it holds for the recipient, I hope they find comfort in its warmth.

Next up: The final quilt in this memorial series takes a joyful turn! Made from a collection of colorful golf clothing, it celebrates a playful life and spirit. Proof that memorial quilts can be just as vibrant as the memories they honor. I hope you will continue to join me as this series unfolds.

If you are looking to memorialize clothing into a keepsake quilt, but would love to hand off the aesthetic decisions so you can concentrate on the stories and significance, please visit the galleries to see if we would be a good fit, or check the custom keepsake quilt listings to learn more.

Keepsake Quilts

You might be interested in similar posts…

Featured