Creating a Memory Book or Memory Quilt for Your Child

A memory book celebrates your baby or child's life in a visual way. You can do anything you want when you make a memory book. The easiest start to make one is merely to get a three-ring notebook or photo album and make pages of photographs of your child and your family. Show a record of her or him growing up. You may also want to add some extras like a snippet of hair from the first haircut, their hospital bracelets or footprints, first samples of their drawing, pictures of their friends, report cards, certificates and awards from school, etc. You could also write little anecdotes of things your child did or said. 
With a memory book you need to make a decision at what point you will pass it on to your child. You can avoid this decision by having two memory books – one for you to keep always and one for your grown-up child. Another way to do it is to wait until your adult son or daughter seems to be settled in their first house after college or after their marriage or first child.
Another way to preserve memories is to make a memory quilt. A memory quilt can be a blanket or a wall hanging. You collect items of clothing as your child outgrows them. You cut the clothes into squares of the same size and save your collection until you have enough to make a blanket or wall-hanging. You can also use pieces of blankets or sheets. Be sure you cut a sample that is not worn thin. On blankets and sheets the outside edges are usually in the best shape. For clothing you would avoid the area covering the knees or the seat of the pants. 
Another way to make a memory quilt is to use all new fabric with a different approach. You could make each square a representation of some part or event of a child's life. Each square would be embellished by appliqué, embroidery, scanned pictures, iron-on letters, fabric paint or whatever you like. You could ask important people from the child's life to contribute a square or two and to sign their square with their name. 
Whatever you decide to do, you should have fun with it. The value of the gift of a memory book or memory quilt is not in the expense of the materials or the expertise in its construction. It is about creating a gift of memory and showing your child you love them.