Old Fashioned Crafts: Friendship Quilts
By Brenda Hyde
In Colonial times women made Friendship Quilts with
their friends and family members. Each person embroidered
their name in the center of a quilt block, and the women held
a quilting bee to hand stitch the pieces together. This was
a very special keepsake during these times. You can do the
same thing, but in the form of Quilted Friendship Pillows. You
can create a small version of the Friendship Quilt by holding
your own quilting party where everyone can leave with a special
keepsake. You'll need to prepare ahead of time before your
quilting party by doing several things:
-Decide ahead of time who will be involved. You can do this
with girlfriends or family members. Grandmothers, mothers,
granddaughters, aunts and nieces would be a good choice.
Call each person or send an invitation explaining they need
to bring a small quilt piece with their name embroidered for
each person. So, if you've invited six people, then each person
should bring six squares with their name. The more people
you have the longer you'll need to give everyone to create
their blocks.
-The size of the squares depends on the amount of people.
A good size though would consist of 9 five inch by five inch
blocks. If you don't have 9 people invited, then use some of
the blocks inbetween with no names. This would also give
each person some to fill in later if they wanted to. You can
make any size you wish though-as long as they form a
square which will be the front of the pillow when finished.
The Day of The Quilting Party
You'll need supplies to finish the pillows during the party.
Ask around, because usually you can gather up what you
need without running out and purchasing it yourself. You'll
need:
-Muslin or cotton material for the back of each pillow. It's not
expensive, and someone is bound to have some on hand.
-Pillow forms or batting to stuff the pillows. Again, ask if
anyone has extra, or instruct everyone to bring their own.
-Needles and thread to stitch the blocks together and finish
the pillow, straight pins, scissors and ruler.
I think it makes this project more memorable to sew the
blocks and finish the pillows by hand as everyone visits.
Halfway through you can invite everyone to take an afternoon
tea break and serve several hot teas with cookies and tea
bread.
Finishing the Friendship Pillows
Lay the squares down three squares over and three
down to form the front of the pillow. Pin together and
handstitch. Once the front is done you can cut a piece
of material the same size for the back and sew together
three sides, insert the pillow form or batting and sew shut
the last side.
This is a very simple project. There are SO many variations
you could incorporate to make it easier or more challenging.
If you feel there isn't time to do this with quilt blocks, then
cut pillow fronts and pass them back and forth among the
guests to embroider names. Even simpler, and something
you could do for children, is to use fabric paint. Have an
adult sew each pillow together instead of handstitching.
Each group of friends or family members is unique. Consider
what would be the most memorable and fun for all involved.
Whether the end result is a handstitched quilted pillow or a
simple painted pillow, it will be a keepsake that will always be
treasured, along with the memories of creating it.
About the Author
Brenda is the editor of OldFashionedLiving.com. She
is a wife, mom to three and a freelance writer as well.
