Christmas quilt pictures are posted!

That's exactly what he was saying! Others remembered when they bought those shirts for their Dad or the event where it was given. There were two blocks from each of 20 shirts. I still have his flannel shirts and I saved all of the buttons and pockets from the shirts used in the quilts. I am hoping to make tote bags from the flannel shirts and use the pockets on the inside and then use the buttons on the straps. Probably not before summer though!

It was quite an adventure looking for the fabrics for the border and backing. My FIL was a big fisherman so I wanted to make that part of the quilts. And I wanted the six quilts to be the same. Each quilt had to have the same blocks so they each had 2 blocks from each of 20 shirts. I didn't want to get into the comparison mode if they were different from each other. You know how kids get - I don't care how old they are!

I started with the shirts. I deconstructed one of the short sleeved shirts to determine how much yardage I could get from one shirt. That determined what size block I could use. Once the block size was set, I figured out the block placement and added the sashing, inner border and outer border to determine the width and length of the top. That gave me an indication of how much backing I needed. I am anal about my outer borders. I don't piece them so I have to have almost two yards in length for each quilt. I was lucky enough to find enough of the border fabric in the same pattern even though it was from several bolts. I lucked out on the backing and found a

25 yard bolt in Joanne's still in the plastic wrap- yes, I used my 40% off coupon on that! After all, even though it was 25 yards, it was still one cut as required by the coupon!

By August, I had the pattern and size all set. I reserved the spot with my quilter since she gets vey busy with holiday quilts very early. Then I started deconstructing the other 19 shirts and cutting the borders and sashing. The worst part was ironing the 25 yards of backing after I washed it!

The sashing colors were pulled from the shirt colors which were mainly blues, blacks and maroons. The green inner border was pulled from the outer border pattern and the backing was pulled from the background of the border as well. As suggested by my quilter, who did a fabulous job, I made two queen sized backings and one lap sized backings. So she only needed to load her long arm three times instead of five times. She was very nice to give me a "quantity" discount as well which really helped.

I focused on getting five of the quilts done first. My husband knew he was getting one and was involved in all the steps of the other quilts so he said he could wait for his until all the others were done. I dropped 4 of the quilts off at the quilter and was in the process of finishing up the fifth quilt. His blocks were already cut and I figured if I used my time wisely, I could get his done in time for Christmas too. Since he already knew about the quilts, I asked him what sashing color he would like. His favorite color is black and he said that would be nice but if he had to choose between the blue and maroon pattern from the others, he would choose a simple grid of blue across and maroon down. I had some black fabric on hand which had a very faint circle pattern which to me looked like bubbles in the water when a fish is near the surface. So, he got his black sashing. I thought I had some fabric left from the quilt I made his Dad several years ago and went looking for it. Not only did I have enough for the borders, but I had enough for the backing and binding as well. I picked up the four quilts from the quilter and dropped off the fifth. She was nice enough to fit the sixth quilt in so I would have it in time for Christmas. Once the fifth quilt was ready for pick-up, I dropped off his. There were so many quilts coming and going, he never caught on that there were six being quilted instead of the five he thought were made.

Then I started to make yards and yards of binding. And the rest is history......

Great pictures, great project, greatfully received. Well done, Alice.

Karen, Queen of Squishies

AliceW wrote:

Wow, Alice, they are amazing. What wonderful gifts for the family...they are certain to be treasured always. I love the sashing between the blocks it really showcases the shirting fabrics.

Well done!

-Irene

Howdy!

Marvelous. Good for you, Alice, and all the sibs.

R/Sandy

The quilts will keep those memories close. :-)

And yes, Alice, I can see where you might need a little break before beginning the totes! Another awesome idea. :-)

Bravo! Simple, graphic, and wonderful! These are sure to become family treasures. Most of us are left with so few "things" from the men in our lives.

I'm assuming you didn't have to kill any of the guys to get the shirts, but thats another thread.... ~:o)

AliceW wrote: