Make a summer memories quilt

The best way to turn your summer memories into a quilt is to make a photo memory quilt.  If you take a summer vacation take your digital camera with you and take pictures for your summer memory quilt.  Take pictures of your backyard B-B-Q’s.  They will all be great in your summer memory quilt. 

There are several ways to make your memory quilt.  If you make a block quilt with your photos centered in the blocks it will make a very attractive quilt.  You can put a photo in every block or you can leave every other block blank.   Use your imagination.

You should take your time choosing your photos.  It is best if you   use photos you have taken with a digital camera.  You will upload these photos to your computer from your digital camera.  You can also scan photos and upload them to your computer.  This takes longer to do and sometimes does not work as wells

Your photos should all be the same size.  You can use a photo editing program to do this.  Two good photo editors are Microsoft Photo Editor and Corol Photo Album.  It might be a good idea to enhance the color on your photos so they will be bright when you transfer them to the fabric sheets.

Decide how big you want your quilt to be.  The most attractive size block to use is a 6 inch block.  Cut your blocks 6 ½ inches.  Lay out your quilt with the plain blocks and the photo blocks.  Move the blocks around until you are completely satisfied with the arrangement.

Sew your blocks together in rows.  Decide the length of your quilt.  If you want your quilt to be 60 inches long you will need to sew 10 blocks together.  If you want your quilt to be 48 inches wide you will need to make 8 rows of 10 blocks.  Sew the 8 rows together.

When you have all your blocks sewed together press the seams so they will be flat and neat.  Lay the quilt face down and put the batting on top then put the quilt backing on top of the batting.  Fasten everything together with safety pins.  Now you are ready to fasten your quilt together.  Put yarn or crochet thread in a large needle.  Insert the needle into a corner of a block from the front to the back and bring it back from the back to the front.  Tie a knot and cut the thread.  Do this in every corner of each block. 

You will need to bind your quilt to finish off the edges.  If your quilt is 60 inches by 48 inches you will need 2 pieces of material 61 inches long and 2 pieces 49 inches long.  They should be 2 inches wide.  Fold the 2 inch pieces down the middle and press with an iron.  You will place these strips over the edges of your quilt and sew in place. 

Your summer memory quilt will be something you will enjoy for a long time.  Take your time in planning your quilt so it will be a truly enjoyable work of art.

Article sources:

http://www.howtodothings.com/hobbies/a3790-how-to-make-photo-memory-quilts.html

http://www.howtodothings.com/video/how-to-sew-memory-quilt-block-pattern