Me and My Seamripper

I am still working on the quilt for my daughter.  I hesitate to say still, as it could imply I should be finished by now.  Rather, it means that I have not dropped the project.  I am now at the stage where I am taking her old clothes apart with a seamripper.  These parts will become the fabric I use for the top layer.  I think there is an official quilting term for this, but I don't know what it is yet.  Sometimes I'll sit at the table while the kids are eating breakfast and take apart a shirt.  Other times, I'll take apart a dress while I binge watch "Parks and Recreation" on Netflix or Jerry Seinfeld's internet show, "Comedians in Cars with Coffee."

I had no problem taking apart the first few items: the pink dress stained with blue paint, or the tan pants with holes in the knees and flowers embroidered on the hips.  I am now dipping into the next layer -- the clothes are are still in reasonable shape and could be worn by someone else.  Those cause me pause.  The hardest dress was a yellow and white linen sun dress I bought for my daughter in Paris when she was four.  It had an ever so slight stain under the chin.  It killed me to rip it apart.  I couldn't take a picture of it before -- it was too painful.  I hope I'll be happier when I see the fabric from the dress sewn into the quilt.  It is better that than the dress becoming a rag.  That is my only consolation for now.

That, and I still have another dress from Paris, this one pink linen with long straight lines.  My daughter wore it to a birthday party and I have a picture of her wearing it.  She was so beautiful, looking tall, lean and elegant.  I have to give some credit to the French here.  I know they are famous for women's clothing.  I was surprised to find something so graceful for a child.  I can't decide if I would rather see parts of that dress immortalized in the quilt, or if I should save that one for a granddaughter.

Fabric from the yellow dress and the pink dress.