CHRISTEPHI

I saw this pretty United States panel print at JoAnn a few months ago -- on sale! -- for just a few dollars and couldn't resist buying it. Such bright colors! Such cute drawings on each state! Little Guy driving across the U.S. while it was still a work in progress! I've been thinking the kids need a more-kid-sized quilt since they're quickly outgrowing their toddler-sized ones.  So I added sashing and some blocks from flannel I had left over from other projects. Finished quilt hanging on the garden fence. The resulting quilt is, well, I never actually measured it, but it's smaller than twin size and larger than crib size. I used a scrap of red knit to put a heart in Missouri. The kids thought that was the coolest thing ever! Uh oh, now I've posted a close-up shot and you can see my horrible attempt at free-motion quilting!  It was my first attempt!  I have a lot to learn (obviously), but it was so much fun and the kids don't car...

After I made the first t-shirt quilt , I was immediately commissioned to make another one.  This time, I had less original material to work with, so I had to be creative.  I ran across this tutorial and decided it was exactly what I needed to make this second quilt. I bought 12 fat quarters and 3 yards of sashing material, which turned out to be just about perfect! (I could have used another two fat quarters, but I made due with some creative piecing). There are shirts from infancy on through marriage!  Sone of the shirts even belonged to the recipient's husband, including one from their first date!  My favorites are the ones made from the Girl Scouts shirt and vest complete with patches and pins!  I made sure to put them on the edges though 'cause I didn't think they'd be too comfortable to lay on.  The back is a soft plaid flannel shirting material.  I got all they had left at JoAnn and it still wasn't quite enough, so I had to piece it cre...

I've been sewing like a fiend!  I made two patchwork peasant dresses with another one cut out and waiting. I made an underdress and overdress outfit for Miss M to wear in my dad's wedding.  I made Little Guy a vest and tie to wear in the wedding.  And I made this  massive   queen-sized t-shirt quilt! Mind you, I'm no quilter, so I probably did 101 things you're not supposed to do, but all in all I'm quite pleased with how it turned out!  I was given 30 shirts and used all of them (most had images on both the front and the back, a total of over 50 squares each measuring 15.5 inches).  I stabilized all the knits with ultra lightweight interfacing (a Black Friday doorbuster item at JoAnn) and backed the entire thing with a pretty purple geometric-print flannel (also from JoAnn on Black Friday).  I didn't get a photo of the back (lucky to even get this shot!), but there's also one row of t-shirts on the back.  The couple I made it for is givi...

This is a queen-sized t-shirt quilt I'm working on for a client to give her daughter for Christmas. Machine quilting a queen-sized quilt on a regular sewing machine takes some wrestling! December Photo Project