Attic Windows #2

One of my friends lost her husband a couple years ago and was overwhelmed by the floral arrangements she received in the days following. She did have the presence of mind to take photos and make a plan to somehow incorporate them into a quilt.

After seeing my granddaughter's quilt (see previous post), we decided to go with the same attic window design. We went back and forth with a few choices for the attic window frames and for the fabric for the borders and backing.

I fixed the issue I was having with the cat photos and the white borders and printed all the photos she gave me. I had a few left after putting together the front and I used them on the back as part of the backing.

This quilt was custom quilted by Christine Tessier in Okotoks and I love how the quilting echoes the attic windows. The quilt was finished with a hanging sleeve and now my friend has it hanging where she can see it daily. 

--Ann

PS I apologize for the fuzzy and dull photos. I don't always remember to clean my cell phone camera lens before photos - this quilt is far more vibrant and vivid than it appears here.

WIP Wednesday - November 26

This is what is on my design wall this week:

Four memory quilts made from the shirts of a customer's father. There's a mix of dress shirts, casual shirts and T-shirts in these quilts. I still need to add some borders to make them to the size wanted and the backs are going to be super soft Minky. I love Minky on the backs, just not the extra work required to ensure the quilt doesn't pucker and stretch while it's being quilted.

Memory Quilt 1/4 

Memory Quilt 2/4

Memory Quilt 3/4

Memory Quilt 4/4

 And a custom quilt made from Paris themed fabrics with disappearing 9-patch blocks randomly placed. This one will go to Marie from Blueberry Hill Quilts for quilting after it's pieced together.

What's on your design wall this week? 

--Ann

T-shirt Quilts finished!

Finished these two beauties for a friend last month! Although I haven't seen my friend for a number of years (I went to school with her sister), we have been out of touch for most of our adult lives and now that we are both empty nesters, it has been fun to catch up through Facebook and more recently, in person. 

T-shirt Quilt

Although I sometimes think that technology has way too strong a hold on me and my time, I do love the way it keeps me in touch with people that I would otherwise not cross paths with on a regular basis.

T-shirt Quilt

I have one more quilt to make for this family before Christmas, and I will be sharing it with you when it is complete.

--Ann

T-shirt Quilt Finished!

I love to travel! And sometimes it seems just a little unfair that my sweet husband, who is very much a homebody, gets to travel with his job.

Completed T-shirt quilt

 And I have been having some twinges of envy of my friend, who's travels have resulted in a collection of T-shirts that she's asked me to make into a quilt. As I piece, I imagine what it might be like to be in London, Paris or the Great Wall of China!

T-shirt logos getting arranged for piecing

After backing the T-shirt logos with light-weight interfacing, they were cut out and placed on the design wall to find the best layout. Because pieces weren't all the same size, pieces of black, gray or deep burgundy were added to bring them all together.

Pieced in sections

There's no border - just a plain black binding to pull it all together and a lovely deep gray flannel for the back - perfect for snuggling on a cold winter's evening or for watching fireworks on a cool summer night!

Cozy flannel backing

How about you? Do you love to travel? What destinations are on your bucket list? And do you have a collection of souvenir T-shirts stashed away somewhere?

--Ann

Memory Quilts

When I think about the roots of quilting in North America, it is usually connected with making quilts from found cloth gathered from used clothing and gently worn fabric. Quilting today is farther from those roots than ever as many quilters buy fabric only for quilting and often in coordinating pre-packaged kits. So, it was a surprise to me that I said yes to a friend to make some quilts from the clothing from her husband.

And so I found myself with a pile of shirts and no plan of action to turn these into a quilt (or 3). I did a little online research and found a variety of memory quilts, some that I liked and some that I didn't. The first step was to cut the shirts apart so I could cut quilt pieces from them. I used Bonnie Hunter's method that she describes here. Don't you just love the quilts she's made from thrift store shirts? This was a great activity for in front of the TV and in a couple evenings I had the shirts cut up.

I did realize after I had the shirts cut up that a few of them were 100% polyester and they started fraying quite quickly, so I put those aside and didn't use them. Anything that was 100% cotton or a cotton/poly blend was used. There was one really nice red plaid shirt that I made a few pieced heart blocks that I wanted to use in the quilts somewhere.

Pieced Heart Block - instructions here

A few weeks later, I took the cut up shirts to a quilting retreat, still without a real clear plan what I was going to do with them. My sister was at that retreat as well and she was completing a quilt that I really liked and realized right away that this was a perfect pattern for a memory quilt. You can see her quilt here http://www.magpiequilts.com/2013/11/quilt-retreat.htmlhttp://www.magpiequilts.com/2013/11/quilt-retreat.html

So, I cut and sewed and slowly, 3 quilt tops emerged from a pile of shirts that hold so many memories for my friend. One was the quilt inspired by my sister's quilt.

Heart border memory quilt

And the other 2 memory quilts are made from 6.5" squares that include the pieced hearts and the fussy cut pockets.

Memory quilt

Memory quilt

Although it took me a while to get started on these memory quilts, I really enjoyed making them! It took me back to the roots of quilting, using fabric that was on hand, and the recycling part of it appeals to me. There will be a few more of these quilts coming out of my sewing room, some with a particular person or memory, and others, just because I love putting together random scraps of fabric!

--Ann