Thursday, January 14, 2021

Carol's T-Shirt Quilt

Carol is a new customer and she brought me this t-shirt quilt to stitch up for her granddaughter.
We agreed that a medium size meander was the right design choice for this. Glide Cool Gray 3 thread was used on the top and a pale Gray So Fine thread was used in the bobbin.
I really like some of the shirts that were included in this quilt.  The Reeses's guy in the above photo and the Seven Dwarfs seen here are a couple of my favorites.  It's very rare these days to see anything Disney with the dwarfs on it and it brings back memories of my own childhood.
I didn't know before that we have Salty Dogs in Syracuse. I learned that it was a professional soccer team that only played for two seasons many years ago.
By using the meandering design, I was able to work around the faces in the photos easily.
The backing was another pieced design and was a combination of t-shirts and cotton fabric.  The addition of all those shirts made this a pretty heavy quilt.  When Carol brought me the quilt, she wasn't aware of the need to have extra inches for the backing on all sides so that it could be attached to the frame, so with her agreement, I added the cream solid fabric which she decided would be trimmed and turned to the front for the binding.
Being a Girl Scout leader myself, this vintage Brownie shirt is another favorite.
I'm guessing that her grandaughter loves cats as there were cat pictures and lot of other cat prints included in the back.
These prints are just so fun.
Carol told me that this quilt is long overdue and I'm sure her granddaughter was thrilled when she received it this Christmas.
I feel honored to be able to help my customers finish their cherished projects.  It makes my job so worthwhile.  I have one more to share with you that was stitched last year and I've already received a few to do this month so be sure to check back to see those finished quilts.
 


Sunday, January 3, 2021

Charmaine's 2 Table Runners

The final few weeks of last year found me busy with the usual December craziness.....both kids' birthdays and all the craziness that surrounds Christmas.  Having a child who still believes in Santa (the older one has also yet to utter any suggestion that he knows the truth) is fun but exhausting.  The gift wrapping had to happen at a fast pace while they were in school, we had to remember to move our elf Twinkle every night and we had to set our alarm clock for midnight on Christmas Eve so we'd get up and get the gifts under the tree while they were sleeping.

We don't know if this was the last year for the secret, we'll just have to wait and see what happens next year, but at some point we know that the gig will be up.  I'm not sure if I'll feel happy or sad at that point but I know that everything will be easier, we won't have to go to great lengths to hide everything and we'll get to sleep through the night on Christmas eve.

Our holiday was quiet, like everyone else.  It was just us and my MIL for the day as it usually is but the big celebration on my side of the family for New Year's weekend was postponed until June. My niece is getting married then and we're hoping to be able to get together then to celebrate.

Once the big day was over, I spent a great deal of the following week in my sewing room and I'll be sharing what I created soon.  In the meantime, I have some more customer quilts to share with you.

 Before the holidays, my customer Charmaine brought me 2 table runners to quilt for her that were going to be Christmas gifts.

First up is the pretty batiks runner.  I really like the pattern and colors she used. 

As happens, sometimes, I forgot to take a "before" picture so that you can see the difference but I did take an "in process" photo when it was about half done.

The stitching made an already pretty table runner even prettier.

 

The panto design she chose for this one is Hurricane.  Glide thread in Mocha was used for the top and Light Tan was used in the bobbin.

 

I really like the way this turned out and I'm betting that whoever received this gift loves it too.

The 2nd table runner is this Blue one, which I think remember she telling me that it was created at a guild workshop early in the year.
This time I remembered to take a "before" pic.  I don't know the technique she used but it made for a really interesting design.
It was an overcast day when I took these pictures right before she came to pick them up so it's harder to see the stitching details in the pics.
The popular panto design Popcorn was her pick this time.  Glide Medium Gray and was used for the top and Light Tan again was in the bobbin.
I always enjoy quilting the pieces that Charmaine brings me to do for her as they're typically different and visually interesting and this one is no different.
I expect that she's been participating in more guild workshops recently, though virtually since that's all our guild is doing right now, so I figure she'll be calling soon with some more fun pieces for me to quilt.  Stay tuned.