Celebration Memorial Quilts

We had a grand Durand family reunion at the beginning of the summer. It was held to honor our matriarch, Dorothy Lee Durand, on what would have been her 100th birthday. She was a much loved and adored mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, and a favorite aunt. All of us called her "Dottie". And we were all in the place she loved most ... the cottage had been purchased by her father when she was 12 years old.

My personal way to honor the love my mother-in-law had for her grandchildren and for fabric was to make quilts from her fabrics for each of her nine grandchildren.

Here are the fronts and backs of the six I had presented at the reunion.

The fabrics are selected for the other three quilts designated for my two sons and the nephew I see quite often. I plan to complete them before what will have been Dottie's 101st birthday.

I used cloth from Dottie's clothes, as well as fabrics from her shop, The Torii. She was the proprietor and buyer right up until she died at the age of 89 1/2. She imported silks, cottons, wools, linens, plus gift items from all over the world. She designed and made her dresses from these fabulous fabrics. Here are photos of just a few. I'll post more when I write about the other three quilts in the future.

Her grandchildren grew up knowing the Torii for its gifts, not really taking notice of the fabrics. On each visit to Knoxville they got to choose a gift for themselves from the wonderful array of exotic objects from around the world. As adults, I wanted to give them each a token of what the Torii was really all about for their grandmother ... the fabrics. The quilting in the plain blocks between the letters of her name is of a torii, the Japanese gate.

These quilts were created and presented with much love.

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