Billy's Memory Quilt ~~ finished!

Memory quilts seem to be the most requested commissions I get. I'm a little tired of them, but this particular quilt is really special because I made a memory quilt for this mom in 2015. That one was for her oldest;  this one is for the middle child. She brought it to me in the fall, but allowed me to push it back to get other quilts done.  

This little family has seen a few changes: mom got remarried and had a baby. That older brother started college. This one is graduating in May. And somewhere between this graduate and the baby, there's another boy. So mom was not shy about asking me to keep costs down. Somehow, I managed to keep the price down enough that it almost matches the first memory quilt I made for her back in 2014-15. 

That's me playing quilt model in the whole quilt photos. Richard's back and neck hurt too much to hold his arms overhead, so I climbed on a patio chair and did the honors. Hmm, no wonder everyone tries to hide when I come around with a quilt and my phone--quilts are heavy! 

One of my favorite parts of this quilt are the tee-shirts Billy painted. The one above is especially cute. The bottom of the shirt and both sleeves had been cut into small strips and embellished with beads. (Could there have been a girl in the vicinity?) I didn't want to lose that personal touch, so I cut off the fringes and sewed them into the quilt along the top of the shirt. They are still free to move around and really give the quilt some character.

 Another shirt must have been painted at VBS or church camp. There are lots of Christian symbols on both sides of the shirt, so I cut the front and back and stitched them together to make one panel. Then I custom quilted around the fabric paint to help make the letters and symbols stand out. 

Because mom had asked that I keep costs down as much as possible, I decided to stipple most of the quilt but just couldn't help myself on some of the shirts. This sports shirt is one example: I stitched around each of the players so that the characters stand out against the white background and to avoid cutting bodies with stitching lines. This one was great fun--I guess the only thing I didn't stitch is the background!  

		Quilt Stats
	Name:	Billy's Tee-shirt Memory Quilt
	Size:	60 x 80
	Fabrics:	Tee-shirts from client
	Backing:	muslin (from stash)
	Binding:	black Kona
	Pattern:	puzzle design
	Quilting:	stippling
	Completed:	March 2018

Another way that I saved on costs for mom was to put a few of the shirts on the back. The quilt is not so wide, but it's still ample enough to cover a pretty good size guy.  What do you think about my cost-saving measures? Do you have a few tricks to lower the costs for clients? I'd love to see a few that I can share with my customers. (And still make a few dollars.) 

I am committed to one more of these, then I think I'll take a break and play with my own projects. We'll see how that goes! Have a great week of quilting everyone!

Link Ups to Love!

Crazy Mom Quilts (Finish It Up Friday)

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or Not Friday)
Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!) 

Personal Belongings Post 12 :: Write 31 Days

This idea of sharing your personal things may seem strange at first but can make for an interesting post. Followers, and people in general, are curious and most of us like human contact. I may not be able to visit you personally, but as I get to know you via internet, I am more and more likely to want to more. Sharing your personal things is a way of sharing your life.

Keeping in mind that TMI (too much information) is real, let's consider what you might share and why.

• vehicles--For some people the vehicle you drive and take care of is an extension of you. You can be honest and show the Cheerios that your kids spilled. You should clean out the car if it's looking like a pigsty. While you are not seeking to impress readers with expensive things, you don't want them thinking that you are disgusting. 
• work space--Regardless of the size, your workspace can motive others to organize their spaces, help them to see the difference that curating their supplies can make, or encourage them to work toward the goal of having a dedicated studio.
• niche specific tools--Sharing photos or videos of your favorite tools is much like recommending them to your readers. Tell them what motivated you to make the purchase. Include the cost of each item by looking it up online or add a link to a place where they can make a purchase. (Be sure to inform readers if you are affiliated.)
• home--Your house and décor are quite personal but, if you are willing to share, they can give much insight into who you are. My family has lived in this home for almost 25 years. Pictures of any room would show just how comfortable and lived-in it has become. No showroom-worthy life here!
• items you've made--I keep an updated quilt show on both my Pinterest and my blog and find that many people visit those pages. 
• closet or wardrobe--Again a very personal look at your personality and taste, you might look around carefully about what is visible before turning on the camera.

Photo credit: Ian Dooley @nativemello

• things that are "odd"--Collections that you've curated for years are compelling, especially if you tell their story.Perhaps you have several vintage items that are rare or that you are proud of. Items handed down through generations are always interesting. 
• sports or hobby items--Do you play a sport or hobby that you don't blog about? You can write a couple posts detailing your engagement, your equipment, and people who share this passion.
• volunteer work--Keeping the privacy of others in mind you can share those things that you do to make the world a better place. Consider taking photos when possible. Ask permission first, or take pictures at an angle so no one can recognize the subject. 
• special/surprise gifts--When I retired in May, the faculty gave us an after-school party. While it's common to give a small gift, there where five or six retirees--many more than the usual one or two, so we didn't expect anything a nice as the outdoor rocking chairs that the teachers presented to us. That was a surprise gift I could have shared.

Although I noted both the items and why they might be a good topic for your blog, I'd like to reiterate that there are stories in every aspect of life. You want to tell the story of those personal things you share: the time, place, event, why you (or someone else) chose it, where it was purchased, and so on. 

Then encourage your readers to join the conversation by asking a question that connects them to the item. For example, if you write about your hobby supply closet, ask how they organize their supply space. 

Finally, remember that you can be yourself in this type of post. Your house doesn't have to be immaculate, or your studio a cover page for a magazine. If your favorite tool has a nick or scratch, point it out and tell that story, especially if there's any humor to be told. 

Writing about Writing -- Links to all posts
Writing about Writing Intro

Inspiration Post 1

Inspiration Post 2

Behind the Scenes Post 3

Followers Post 4

Your Blog Post 5

Holidays and Special Events Post 6

Bloggers You Follow Post 7

Your Journal Post 8

Setting Goals Post 9

Product Testimonials Post 10
Travel Experiences Post 11

Hats Off, Hats On

Last weekend I decided to attempt a cloche hat. I've wanted one for quite a while despite the fact that I really don't look good in hats. I like hats. I have even been known to wear them. But wear them well? No, actually.

Exhibit A
There will be no Exhibit B.

The hat almost works. It's a little big, but it covers my head. I just don't like it as much as I thought I would. Mostly it's hot. 

I guess I'll have to wait until this business of the middle-aged heat wave finally passes. I had hoped 57 would be the magic number but apparently I have to get "upper" in age. 




Ah, I digress. Apologies. The cloche is my dream hat. Not the straw hats that I must wear in the Louisiana summer. Cloche hats are cute, sexy, and fun. Straws are utilitarian, sun fighers, blah if you will. 

I mean, who doesn't love a straw hat when the rays are hitting the part in your hair at 100 degrees? Ever had a sunburn on your head? The part-in-your-hair part of your head blisters. When the heat is that bad, the tops of your ears melt. Nothing short of a straw hat the size of a tree can handle that job. 

Preferably a well-worn, beaten up old straw hat. One with a string so you don't lose it when you pass out. Because in the South, passing out is the only thing you're allowed. God forbid that you whine a little (or a lot). 

Inside band and label

When the temps are 105 degrees, you are most likely sizzling on metal stadium seats. Trees don't grow in those kind of places; they have more sense than that. 



Southerners? Oh no, we don't have the sense of a tree. We go to little league games, Nascar races, football and soccer games and all manner of sit-on-a-hot-metal-seat events. Hats come in handy at those places. Hats and umbrellas. And sunscreen. Don't forget the sunscreen. Oh, and water. A towel to put on the seat. Yeah, that towel is pretty important to the hiney-end; no one wants a cooked hiney. 

Years ago (okay, many years) our boys were teenagers. They are athletes. As parents of three boys, we've bleachered every sport. In wind and rain, in sweltering sun and, once, in a November ice storm. The ice storm was bad. The August sun shining in my eyes at three in the afternoon--the bleachers absorbing heat all day long--was the absolute worst. 

Thank my lucky stars, I'd remembered my entire ensemble: a big red straw hat, a reflective silver umbrella, water, sunscreen and towel. I was the only momma in the stands. (Really. It was a scrimmage and some distance from home.) I did pass out (it's a requirement, remember?) during which time, my ears and eyelids melted.  Soon after, the seat of my pants burst into flames. Yep, I got a little hot but a big red hat saved my life. Too bad it couldn't save my toosh.

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: F O O T B A L L

I think today is Sunday.  It's difficult to keep track. We've been away for a few days, playing with the kids at Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX, which is just outside of Dallas. In fact, visitors can watch the planes fly into DFW.  More on that trip later.

                   

For now, it turns out that not only is it Sunday, it's Super Bowl Sunday for most Americans. I figure that means we can use football as inspiration for a few quilts.  First, some ideas for your next football game or party.

And, are you ready for some football quilts?

Rather than just look at blue/orange Broncos and red/blue Patriots quilts, here are a few quilts representing other sports.  Just because.

I'm going to play one the long-arm but you enjoy the game. 

Gavin's Memories ~~ complete!

All the way complete!  Yes, indeed.  Done. Finished.  
Edited to add: Another memory quilt for this family can be found here.

Last Friday I wrote about finishing the top, which was a bit of a struggle because the shirts that Gavin's mom brought in are not all tee-shirts.  The knits on the football jersey are different from those on his sweats and different from the tee-shirts.  Not only are the knits made differently, but they are different weights.   All of that made for some slow, careful sewing.  

Then I got to the binding.  Oh wow!  Because I'd been asked to incorporate Gavin's karate belts into his quilt, I started thinking about how I could applique the belts along the edge.  After playing around with a couple of ideas--but nothing I liked--I asked Richard to take a look.  Together we finally decided that rather than bind the quilt and add the belts after, I needed to use the belts as the binding.  That meant removing two to three seams from every belt. 

It also meant figuring out how to connect two belts together because the belts were not long enough for the long sides of the quilt.  I eventually settled on ripping out all of the seams on the very edge of the belt to expose the burlap belting material.

That allowed me to peel back the fabrics, then I cut down the burlap by about an inch and flipped the fabric into the belt to form a clean edge.  

In the example in these pictures, I slipped the navy belt into the white one.  

Keeping the folded parts down I hand-stitched the two belts together using a clear, mono-filament thread.

The corners proved to be a bigger challenge. I sewed down the sides, then moved on to the top and bottom.  I had to sew the binding/belting down almost up to the binding. Again I peeled the fabric back and cut the burlap down and folded the fabric into the belt.  Using a whipstitch I sewed the opening closed and continued sewing the belting on as binding.

Once the belts/binding was on, I turned my attention to the baseball cap that would be the final touch.  I zigzagged the edges of the cap and then added a few tailor tacks to the top of the cap.  That held the cap in place fairly well.  It could be removed so that someone else can remove it and wear it as is.

And there you have it! A memory quilt made with lots of Gavin's personal items--from tee-shirts, to jerseys and tees, to karate belts and a baseball cap.

The belts that I used as binding.

The weather was perfect (hot but not too bright) for a photo-shoot.  However, the ladder is broken.  Richard insisted that I not climb the ladder, but he gave no suggestions as to what I could climb.  In the end I used the front porch swing and then the fence around the puppies' yard.  They worked okay but if your screen has a blurred picture, I apologize.

 A few close-ups and linky parties

Linking up with:

Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts 

Fabric Frenzy Friday for Fourth Worth Fabric Studio

Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Janet at Simply Pieced is the hostess for TGIFF for Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday