Rock & Roll Soul

Here's another finish from late last year, this time by Jane. Called Rock & Roll Soul, it is a memory quilt for a dear friend and former colleague Dianne, made with her late husband's shirts.   

There were seven in total, all quite interesting designer shirts, some of them purchased in England. A few of them had different fabrics lining the collar, cuffs and inside of the back yoke where the labels were. One shirt had two or three different fabrics used in the same shirt. Jane did not include any fabrics other than what was in the shirts. 

Mel was a huge music fan and loved music of all genres. He especially loved the Beatles, and a couple of his shirts were designed by John Lennon, including this one with Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds embroidered across the front two panels, crossing over the button placket. She couldn’t figure out how to use that one without compromising the design, so she is going to make it into a pillow for Dianne. She did use the rest of the shirt, including the tiny embroidered stars that were on the back yoke and cuffs. 

All of the shirt labels were incorporated into the quilt as well, as they were all graphically interesting. I think my favourite fabric is the cream embroidered with small flowers shown in this photo.

Jane's two favourite shirts were the floral ones, the dark navy and the white with blue and navy print. She thinks that the dark one was Liberty fabric, as it was so beautiful to hand sew. There are a few bits of red throughout, the lining of cuffs, a collar and a yoke.

A great blue backing finishes it off and Roberta at Cocoa and Quilts quilted it for her with a terrific ribbon-like panto.

She's very happy with how it turned out and Dianne loved it. Such a beautiful finish, and a fitting and comforting memory for Dianne to cherish....M