When he passed away, we were left with LOTS of hats.
We didn't want to throw them away, and yet - we're not really okay with strangers wearing them all either.
Mom and I decided to make 'Hat Quilts' - our own version of a 'Memory Quilt'.
We split his hats up between the 4 grandchildren.
I tried to give each one the hats that meant the most to them or that they gave him. For instance: Leila got the one that says 'Papa' in Chinese, the one from the Mall of America (shopping), the one from the Bahamas (she's the only one of the 4 that's been there) / Darrell got the one from Pensacola (where he was born), the Broncos one (he's the only one that's been there), the US Treasury one (since he works in a bank) / Austin got the Wrestling one, the Toyota one, the New Mexico one (he's been there) / Ryan got the Tennessee one, the Smoky Mountain Knife Works, the Kentucky Fried Chicken (Darres's first job). And so on.
After splitting up the hats, and finally deciding just HOW to go about this and actually do it (with much help from Dorothy M) - the next step was picking out material. Darrell came up with the idea to use material that would be personal and meaningful to each of them. Ryan's quilt has guns and shells on it / Darres is a huge gun person and Ryan has grown up with that. Austin's has deer and bear / he 's the one that hunted with Dad the most. Darrell chose trains / he's the one that has always been the most interested in Dad's model trains. Leila was a little harder because she didn't have as much time with him. We settled on travel and maps for her. She didn't get to travel with Papa as much as the boys, but she surely LOVES to travel and go - just like he did.
After all this deliberation and decision making - it was finally time to do it. I cut the material and sewed on the hats. Mom put the squares together and has been doing the 'quilting'. (Her job is far, far more time consuming than mine.)
I have to say that several times as I was getting ready to take the scissors to a particular hat - I would hesitate. On one hand, it seemed wrong to cut up Dad's hats. But, then I would think - he would be okay with this. He wouldn't want them to sit in boxes in the basement and rot away. This way, each 'kid' has something of his, that's filled with memories and that they'll (hopefully) keep and treasure forever.
As I worked on the hats - there were times it was really hard. It was a trip down memory lane. I realized that these were more than just 'hats'. They were his life. There were hats about his likes and his hobbies (hunting, trains) / there were hats about the people he cared about and loved (Mom's bank, the places each of his grandchildren were born, places we've all worked and gone to school) / places he, we or us all visited and brought a hat back from. They represent him.
Each quilt is 72" x 90". Each one has 40 hats on it. Each one represents Papa's life and Mama's hand-sewn stitches and hours upon hours of work. 2 are completely finished now. One is about 1/2 way quilted. The top of the last one is done, but not the quilting part.
If you ever went anywhere with him or brought him a hat from somewhere - look close. You may just see it and find some memory there that's a comfort.
Austin
Darrell
Leila
Ryan
