My mother turned 99 in June of 2016 and she deserved something special for her last 2-digit birthday. I proposed that the family work together to make her this quilt and requested hand prints from my siblings, nieces, nephews, their children and grand-children. As with all large families, there were a few that didn’t want to participate in the group gift, and a few that procrastinated until it was too late. Those that sent prints got their own block. Those that didn’t, got their names on a household/group block.

As a family, we’re pretty spread out around the country, so they were asked to put their prints on regular 8-1/2 by 11″ paper, take a photo, and email it to me. (My only stipulation was that the photographs needed to show all 4 sides of the page, so I could easily resize and square up the images back to their original size and shape.) They all chose their own colors. I added a name to each and printed them all onto specially treated fabric using my Canon ink jet printer. After they were all printed, I heat set the ink and arranged them in the quilt. If the entire family had participated, both sides of the quilt would have had personalized blocks. However, as it turned out, there were exactly the right number of blocks for her twin size bed.

If you look closely you might see that the print in the center of the quilt is mom’s (she had no idea why though) and the two blocks to either side are for our father and oldest brother who had both passed away a few years earlier.