| When my daughter was getting ready for her Bat | | | | my daughter and put them into the quilt. We bought |
| Mitzvah she was very busy with the preparation of | | | | pre-treated fabric sheets (like iron-on transfers) that |
| the Torah reading which took almost a year to learn. | | | | are made for your printer. You can buy them at |
| While she was proud of herself for learning how to | | | | Michael's or other major craft stores. Read the |
| read from the Torah, I sensed that she needed to | | | | directions carefully so you get it right the first time. We |
| express her artistic side as well as her spiritual side at | | | | scanned the photos into the computer and printed |
| her Bat Mitzvah - we needed a project. After lots of | | | | them out on the transfers and the quilter ironed them |
| thinking we came up with the idea of doing a Bat | | | | on for us. We interspersed the pictures of my |
| Mitzvah quilt. | | | | daughter with the squares made by her friends. It is |
| First we found a local artist who could make quilts and | | | | important to mention that not all of the transfers turned |
| was happy to work with us on this project. Here is | | | | out as bright and clear as we wanted. I recommend |
| what we did. | | | | buying double the amount that you need as you might |
| We went on-line to see different types and colors of | | | | have to make several attempts to get this right. |
| fabric and my daughter picked her favorite patterns | | | | When we finished making all our squares the quilt artist |
| and sent the names and codes to the quilter. | | | | took all the squares, and sewed them together into a |
| Next we decided how large we wanted to make the | | | | quilt with the fabric my daughter had chosen. She also |
| quilt and how many people we wanted to help in | | | | added some puffy hearts in the corners of the quilt |
| decorating the squares. The artist then wrote out a | | | | which was a great effect and she created a fantastic |
| diagram for us so we could see what the finished quilt | | | | quilt. We hung it up at the Bat Mitzvah party and all the |
| was going to look like. We decided to make a quilt that | | | | girls got to see it and find the square they made for |
| would hang on the wall instead of covering the bed so | | | | my daughter. Now the Bat Mitzvah quilt hangs proudly |
| that it would last longer and not get dirty. | | | | on her wall. She will treasure it for a lifetime! |
| Then we had the artist prepare the squares of | | | | In order to inject some Jewish meaning into the project |
| material for us ahead of time. She did this on cream | | | | here are a few ideas;o Write the name of the girl's |
| colored material. We brought the squares home and | | | | parsha (Torah Portion) on one of the squares and her |
| invited 25 of my daughter's best friends to come and | | | | name in Hebrewo Add the date of the Bat Mitzvaho |
| help create the quilt. I bought fabric markers, fabric | | | | Write the word "Bat Mitzvah" or "Mazal Tov"o Use |
| paint, and stencils that matched well with the colors of | | | | Jewish symbols such as the Magen David, Menorah, |
| fabric that my daughter chose. The girls needed some | | | | Chai or Hamsao Use Jewish sayings in Hebrew or |
| help with what designs to draw so I cut out pictures | | | | English that have meaning to your daughter |
| and decorations from magazines and from the Internet | | | | Most importantly - have fun with your daughter. Make |
| that they could copy (flowers, birds, trees, hearts, etc). | | | | sure her Bat Mitzvah is the most special occasion in |
| Another idea we incorporated was to take photos of | | | | her young life. |