I'm going to think on this a while Toogie. It's a grand idea but want to give it some thought. What came to me at first was not a tree but a famly diagram as you would see on paper. block for you block for hubby with full names block under with marriage date. block for each child with birthdate, their mates and wedding dates, then their children and their birthdates etc, etc. Of course other blocks also but this is just what is running through my mind at the moment. I'm sure you will get some grand and glorious ideas from other Cuties far more creative than myself Hugs LILLIAN

Hi Toogie, though I really like the idea of The Family Tree,not too sure about sleeping with it. [haha] I did once do a large 24" pillow with lots of family photos printed on it for a birthday. (for a member of our family who was 60yrs). I am not a fan of 'kits', as they do not always come up to standard. However, pre-cuts such as the jelly-roll and layer-cake etc would perhaps make the job easier.

Will have to give this some serious thought, I do agree about leaves with the ex's on them maybe they could be the dropped ones at the base of the tree lol. Will get back to you..

I just went and had a look on Google for Anniversary quilts and the ones on there just blew me away. My, my there are some very gifted Quilters in the world. I hope you find something that will suit your needs Toogie. Good luck with it all. Love Chris

Your sweet granddaughter who died could be a cloud in the sky; then your ex's could still be falling leaves or leaves on the ground. I just made a "wall" quilt, about 36" x 50", using a Stonehenge grey for the "wall". I put a few "bricks" on the wall with grey satin stitches for "mortar" around each one. My idea was to have a crumbling stucco urban wall that exposed the brick underneath. It was a prayer quilt for a very ill relative. I had collected family and friends well wishes and wrote (with machine embroidery) on each brick, using different fonts. The bricks were different colored batik scraps and I used different colored thread for the writing so it would stand out on each batik.

When I thought I had enough bricks I finished the well wishes as graffiti on the grey wall background using black thread. Then I quilted angels with pale thread on the wall. I emb. little flowers, mice, crosses, elves and other quirky things I'm known for in between the bricks and along the bottom "ground". (I brought it to church and had it blessed and others present prayed over it. I made him a huge prayer quilt as well. At the moment he is doing well.)

For your quilt I am picturing the sky with a cloud and perhaps the sun peeking out from it, a low brick wall, a tree in front of the wall and of course, the ground. The wall could hold some of the names and birthdates of the grands while their parents are leaves on the tree in front of the wall. If you scattered the grands' names around instead of keeping them all together they would have fun looking for their names and for the funny designs you hide on the bricks, tree trunk and grass.

I must say that some of my emb. designs acted very badly and while I know where the messes are, they are not all too visible. I truly messed up when I tried to satin stitch the mortar on my old sewing machine and it looked terrible. Switched to my emb. machine -- because it was midnight and I wanted to finish the mortar -- and I was impressed how much prettier the grey thread stitched out on the emb. machine. Weellll, that really isn't what it was. The thread broke just before I finished and that's when I realized that all the mortar was in metallic silver. The two spools were stored next to each other. LOL And that's the story of my life........... I hope this wasn't too confusing and do wish you good luck on what you decide. Last but not least: Congratulations on a wonderful life together all these years through thick and thin times.