Memory Tee-shirt Top ~~ Finished!

Last week I told you that Richard gave me a hand cutting tee shirts for a memory quilt for a client who had purchased one for her older son a couple of years ago. That help really paid of: I was able to begin sewing blocks together and got a couple of strips made, although they were far from working together. But I have to start somewhere. 

I made a few more seams yesterday and got this far with the top. One of my problems was that I had way too many shirts. So I spent some time trying to solve that problem, which paid off. 

And tonight I can report that the quilt top is complete. I had hoped to load it on the long-arm this afternoon, but babysitting duties got in the way. I really like the way this one turned out. I must admit that making these memory quilts does get easier with each completion, even if I'm rather burned out. 

If all goes well, I'll load the quilt on the machine tomorrow and perhaps even get a few stitches in. It will take a few minutes, however, because I have a strip of shirts to add to the back panel. It's all those white net-type athletic shirts that have the large holes, so they will need a black cotton backing before attaching them to the muslin.

A quilt top, a quilt bottom, some batting and lots of memories for a graduate: not all that difficult after all. What's your favorite part of making memory quilts?

Friday Finish Update: the quilting on this memory quilt is complete! I hope to add binding and label early next week and get it off to its owner. I sent photos of the completed top and she is very excited about seeing the finished quilt.

Link Ups We 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!) 

To Shreveport and back

Photo by Mary Marcotte/Fleur de Lis Quilts

One sister moved to Shreveport /Bossier City in northwest Louisiana. Another sister was going to visit. So this sister joined the fun.  That meant getting the good news on the fam and laughing about old times. 

Off to Alexandria with a pause for a quick bite. Then on to the City of Lights for sister number one. Then on to Shreveport via old Hwy 1to see the farms, old barns, pecan orchards, and falling down depots. I think we may have spotted four depots. We were driving parallel with the railroad. We somehow missed Shreveport's downtown area because we had to reroute around a train and the city was behind us as we looped through Barksdale AFB. Thanks to google maps for the lowdown on the roads. 

Photo by Mary Marcotte/Fleur de Lis Quilts

At some point we came across this bridge. I spotted it from a mile away and grabbed the phone. Snap, snap, snap, a few more snaps, and the bridge was behind us. I figured there would be one decent photo. There were a couple. Surprise!

Photo courtesy of Google images

A couple hours of visiting and drinking ice tea (it is the South, after all) and we were ready to backtrack. Except we didn't. We grabbed the first on-ramp to I-20 and zoomed right past the downtown area to I-49 south. I didn't get to take any pictures of downtown, but google rescues me again.

Photo courtesy of Google images

Photo courtesy of Google images

If you haven't been to Louisiana, you're missing out on wonderful architecture both old and new. Shreveport/Bossier City is one of those places where the old and new mingle like guests at a dinner party. 

Come for dinner. We'll eat crawfish (it's in season) and travel some of the old roads so you can see the real beauty of Louisiana.

Not getting very far

I started a new memory quilt with tee shirts from a former client. She came to me a couple of years ago and liked her oldest son's quilt so much that she contacted me again. Honestly, if it weren't that she's such a sweet little momma, I'd have declined. 

How can I possibly say no to someone who opens the conversation with, "We love the quilt so much that we want another for the second son"? Wait, you like it that much? 

Well anyway, these shirts are boys' athletic shirts, which are really difficult to work with. You know the kind, right? Thick athletic jerseys meant to last for several years of running, tackling, and jumping in water, mud and grass.

Some of the tee-shirts are almost as bad. Some have that thick screen printing paint that shreds thread and dulls needles. It's a mess. And don't think that you can hand quilt it. I've tried. It's like trying to stick a needle through a rubber tire. No way.

But for all the complaining, I did get every shirt cut out and organized (hence, a finish) and even have sewn a few. The quilt top should be ready for the long-arm in a few days. Well, that assumes that I'll get more sewing done. 

Have you noticed that I have a small piece of paper pinned to some of the shirts? You can't read them, but each one is important to put the shirts together when designing the top. The paper has the size of the block, where on the top it should go, and anything else I need to remember. Having these notes makes makes the whole process much easier. 

And finally, we had a beautiful sunset tonight. I happened to be walking from the studio at dusk and noticed the sky. The weather was perfectly gorgeous all day, but we expect a serious storm around 3 a.m. so the sky is getting ready. 

Love these Link Ups!

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!)

Pin It Weekly #236

How's your Pinterest? I've been struggling to get on the computer at all. I've been busy cleaning the studio (YAY!) and doing some sewing (happy dance!) 

All that translates to I haven't been pinning. 

But other people have. So let's take a look at their work, shall we? Let's start with some artwork from James McNichols' "Paintings" board.

Isn't this little fella cute? He reminds me of my boys when they were about this age. Cowboys in their bones. Then they grew up!

These quilts are on my "Heart, quilts" board and have been pinned to Emily Y's "Quilt On My Friend" board.

And finally Kim Hyatt's "Barns" board. Lots of these have been pinned from my "barn, yard" board.

Thanks to everyone who has been visiting and pinning my boards. 

March Guild Meeting

Mrs. Marilyn showing her quilt top.
Each month she shows us how much she's added.

It's the first Monday of the month. That means a Cotton Quilters' Guild meeting. Which means a crazy morning of gathering up stuff, printing stuff, making and organizing a plan, wrapping door prizes, and any other duties I can remember and need to do.

Don't ask me why those things are not done before the morning of the meeting. It's just how I roll. I don't have an answer. 

Some of the Kaffe fabrics that Mrs. Marilyn is using

The meeting went well, except that only Mrs. Marilyn had a show and share. Even I didn't, because the Harley Davidson quilt has gone to Baton Rouge. 

Today we started a block-of-the-month (BOM) for a row quilt. I decided to keep it simple: choose three colors or fabrics, make five 12" blocks using my directions, and in six months we will each have a quilt top that measures 60" X 72".

A bad closeup of Mrs. Marilyn's EPP top

Today I showed and explained the log cabin block. Directions are fairly straightforward, but there are several ladies in the group who do not quilt unless the rest of us push them. So we're pushing.

I have several other things going on right now. One is that I ordered and received a Sew Steady table top for the Bernina. It's huge! Much bigger than I expected, so I'm going to move the machines around in an attempt to make using it somewhat easier. I love it. 

I broke the original piece that came with the machine, and it's getting too wobbly to use. In the picture below, you can see that the bed of the machine is very narrow--great for sewing in tight spaces, like a sleeve or on baby clothing--but a disadvantage with strip piecing. 

You can also see that the table is clear. It's like looking down through glass, so I should be able to see the scissors, rippers, etc. in the space that they seem to migrate to. I had to make a few adjustments to the table height so that there's no bump when sliding fabric from the table to the machine bed. Now that I've got it smooth, the table is a great addition to the Bernina.

Lastly, here are some photos I took in nearby fields of these yellow-flowered weeds that bloom every spring. The yellow flowers are tiny, maybe half an inch wide, yet they completely cover the ground.

This first picture is beautiful because of the contrast in the blue of the sky and the yellow of the flowers. I literally took the picture from inside the truck when Richard slowed down a bit. The tree wouldn't get out of the way, but now I like having it there. :)

I took this picture today. Both are from the same field, but from different angles. In this picture the flowers cover the ground, which inclines just enough to see more of them. I had to share these; I appreciate how beautiful God's work is. Weeds that will be plowed under in a few weeks are astonishing if only we look around. 

Don't just smell the roses, look at the wildflowers. 

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Ladders

I know I'm stretching this a bit, but I love old ladders for storing or hanging quilts. So today I'm hoping to inspire you with some beautiful quilts on a few ladders.

I really like the idea in the picture above on  the right. The rungs swivel so that hanging the quilts is easy and each rung can be set so that all the quilts can be seen.

Some ideas for ladders include 

• old bunk bed, half of an old wooden step ladder
• a wooden single-side ladder
• turning a step ladder into a shelf by adding boards across the rungs
• old aluminum ladders could also work and are easy to move around because they are light-weight
• shutters with some of the slats removed would work well
• vintage gates (both wood or metal)
• using both sides of a step ladder to form a corner shelf 
• hanging the ladder horizontally on the wall
• baby bed rail (turned sideways)
• library ladder (for homes with high ceilings)

I highly recommend that you attach the top of the ladder to the wall. If a child decides to climb, there is less worry that he/she will pitch backward. 

Another concern is that the rungs of old ladders and decorative ladders may not hold the weight of a child. Test your ladder and, if this is the case, consider hanging it horizontally or reinforcing the rungs. 

A carpenter or woodworker should be able to help you with either of these.

For more ideas on storing quilts, see my Pinterest board, "stacked, quilts." Anything that works for holding books, home decor, and plants will also work to hold quilts--either folded or hung. And we all know how a handmade quilt can warm up a room.