Saturday, July 16, 2022

Patti's T-shirt Quilt

My friend Patti asked me to make a T-shirt quilt for her to give to her hubby. I was happy to oblige.

She told me that she had to pick shirts that had special meaning but he hadn't worn in a while so they were at the bottom of the drawer.  She also had sneak the shirts out of the house.

After cutting the blocks to size, these were 15" square finished blocks in order to accommodate the size of some of the motifs, they were arranged in a pleasing layout.

Adding the sashing and border was simple enough and it was ready for the next step.
 
Loaded on the frame and ready to quilt.
 
All done. Thread was Glide Coin for the top and Black in the bobbin, batting was Quilters Dream 80/20 in Natural.  It finished at 80" x 80".
 
It's fun to see the shirts she chose to include.  I can imagine the memories these bring back.




 
A simple meander design was perfect.
Patti requested a Blue theme and I found a bunch of nice options for the backing.  She chose a great  print that really looked fabulous coordinated perfectly with the front border.
 
I was really happy with the result of this machine stitched binding.
 
Patti was thrilled with how this turned out and her hubby was too, though initially I heard that he was freaked that she "stole" and "cut" his shirts. Hehehe!
I can't wait to see what the next T-shirt project will be.  I know that I have a number of local friends collecting shirts for future graduation gifts for their kiddos.
 


Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Cats in the Lagoon, a quilt for JB


My daughter loves cats! She watches cat videos, wants/buys things with cats on them and snuggles our 2 cats almost non-stop. When I first came across the Cookie Cat pattern by Lori J. Miller in a magazine many years ago, I knew she would go crazy over it and want one of her own.

During the pandemic we updated her bedroom, taking it from Pink/Purple little girlish to pale Aqua tween vibe.  These are the "before" photos.


 
The new paint color, Sea Ice by Behr. 
 
Once the painting was finished, it was time to upgrade her other furnishings.  We got her a new desk and her Dad came up with the idea of using the crates for displaying treasures instead of putting up shelves.  They have cleats on the back so she can change the configuration.
 
She also needed a new, bigger dresser.  The previous one was a hand-me-down from a family friend and while it is still usable, it just wasn't big enough.
She wanted an accent wall and I saw this idea, though hers was real paneling. We didn't want to go that route but luckily I found a peel and stick wallpaper that looked like real wood. It took months and months to arrive and was a challenge to install but we all loved the result.

She had also wanted a canopy over her bed for years, one that went from the head of the bed to the foot, but because of the ceiling fan in the middle of the room, that type of canopy wasn't possible. I came across this idea on Pinterest and she loves it.
 
Once everything was hung on the walls, the only thing left that was needed is a new quilt.
 
 Oh, and we also added the color changing lights.  Her brother's BFF had them, her brother got them and so she wanted them too.  They are cool.

 
She typically leaves them on the Blue color.
 JB originally planned on making the whole quilt herself and did piece together all of the six patches for the bodies but then she lost steam and the project sat on her sewing table for a really long time.  Eventually I asked her if she wanted me to finish it for her and she said Yes.

First task was to complete piecing the blocks by adding the face, tail and ears.

 
Then it was time to add the faces.  I appliqued the eyes and nose and then straight stitched the whiskers.  The pattern called for them to be embroidered by hand but this was faster.
 
I added a column of blocks to the pattern to make it wider for her bed. Before long the top was completed and loaded on the frame for it's finishing touches.
 
The cats are cute definitely needed some spiffing up.
 
In process.  I loved how this was looking so far.
 
Here's the after photo.  The Lida pantograph looked great and gave a nice movement across the very angular block design. Threads were Glide in Lemon Ice on the top and Marine in the bobbin.
 
I had "help" when it came time to hand stitch the binding down.
 
All finished.  The sun wasn't cooperating again on the photo shoot day so that you could see the stitching detail, but she was thrilled with the result.
 
JB picked out all the fabrics for this quilt at a LQS, which unfortunately was going out of business.  She also found the backing print there but they didn't have not nearly enough for what we needed.  Luckily we were able to find it online.
 
I was able to surprise her one day when she got home though I forgot to have the camera ready so that I could get a pic of her reaction.
 
Her new teen room was finally done and she loves it. 
Hopefully it will be a while before she wants to redecorate again.