new project in the chute

Le 11/10/2011 16:49, mamahays a écrit :

I did 2 quick ones for my boys last christmas . No sashing just piecing of odd shapes. i'm not a quilter in any way just wanted to make up some memories. they are on my site Sharon.

Claire in Montréal France.

What a labor of love! Sorry, I can't help with it. Now that T-shirt quilts are so popular, I wish I had saved some of my sons and made each of them one. The younger was in the Navy on a sub and traveled all over.

Emily

A labor of love, you are such a good friend. Your neighbor is fortunate, he will love the quilts.

Sounds like a very emotional project - I'm sure your neighbour will love them once they are done. As to technical questions, why not come on over to rec.crafts.textiles.quilting and ask over there? You'll find some familiar names wearing their quilting hats too.

Lizzy

Knowing you Sharon it will perfect and beautiful. What a great gift from the heart.

Juno

Claire, those are adorable!!!! I'm sure the boys love them. ;) Thanks too for the pointers. Much appreciated!!

Sharon

I know what you mean, Emily. I never thought about doing one of these before. Now, I wish I had started a shirt stash a long time ago so I could make one for each of my two. I think the girl still has a bunch of old "precious" t-shirts in her closet. I might could still do one for her. I did a practice run with some of Andy's old shirts. I asked him for outgrown ones and he brought me a pile of them that were all from things he's done over the years. Pee wee football, odyssey of the mind, band, etc. I told him I could keep that start of a quilt top and add to it as time goes on. Eventually, it would be a whole quilt. ;)

Sharon

Thanks, Beverly. When I started laying out the one I'm working on now, I had him come look at it pinned onto the cardboard cutting board. He was really thrilled with it. He said he was really excited to see the whole thing finished. :) I know he trusted me to work on it, but I think it reassured him to see it at that point. I'm going to save the scraps of the shirts and make a blankie for their dog. We have been babysitting her while he had to go out of town for work. As soon as I opened the storage bins with the shirts, she stuck her nose right in there and snuffled them. I just about burst into tears. So I will make her a blankie from her mom's shirts. She's a good, good girl.

Sharon

Thanks for the suggestion, Lizzy. I will do that. I took a friend of mine out to lunch to ask her how-to questions too. :) It was a multi-tasking kind of thing. We hadn't had a girls' lunch in a while. And we had lots of other catching up to do too!! She had lots of great suggestions. Like using polar fleece for the backing, with no batting. Between that and using a very lightweight fusible interfacing, it makes a really soft, cuddly quilt. The one I'm working on now is going to be a display only type quilt. It will be draped over the back of a bench. So I used a heavier interfacing so it will lay nicely on the bench. So far so good, but I will run to rec.crafts.textiles.quilting if I need help!

And yes, it's pretty emotional. I keep thinking how she would think this was a really cool project, AND a good excuse to go shopping to buy new shirts. :)

Sharon

Thank you so much, Juno. You are such a doll.

xoxo

Sharon

Your project is so special, your neighbor will treasure it always..

I will be getting my contribution to you soon, I forgot a concert I had to go to tonight, and younger DD needed my help earlier today setting up her LAN. But yours is mostly done, I just need to stitch the sample to be sure it works.

I took a second *for sure* measurements on DSIL tonight (I just could not bring myself to tear the tartan yardage, there is no margin for error with the selvage as hem), so I start work on the kilt tomorrow.

I like using polar fleece for backing and batting - the boys have 2 each like that and I made one for my father like that too. Now my mum has it on her bed.

You will be most welcome over there :-)

I understand about emotional quilts - despite sewing late into evenings the one for my father I finished it the day before he passed away so he never actually got to use it. I gave it to my mum this week the day after his funeral.

Lizzy

Oh, Lizzy!! I am so very sorry for your loss. The quilt is beautiful and I know your mother will cherish it.

I'm sorry I'm not close enough to give you a hug. I will definitely keep a good thought for you!

Sharon

There is no rush!! I haven't worked on the quilt for a couple days. I played yesterday and today I am driving everyone hither and yon. (and going to the store; and apparently just for fun dropping canned goods (the kind in actual cans, not mason jars) on my foot. Just at the knuckle where my big toe meets my foot. I cussed so loud Charlie Dog high tailed it out of the kitchen. lol Someday, I'll start wearing shoes in the house. lol) How was the concert?

Did you have a good time at McD's??? LOL I know you will feel oh so much more confident about it now that you've measured again. Can't wait to see this one when it's done!!! :) Sharon

Dear Lizzy, I feel so sad for you. I know your mom will cherish the quilt forever. It was such a labor of love, The colors are beautiful. The connection between fathers and daughters is so strong and so hard to be forced to give up. I didn't do much sewing when my dad was alive but he knew I loved to cook. He would ask me to make him chicken soup when ever I visited him. To this day cooking a pot of chicken soup bring wonderful thoughts of him. The quilt will do that for you. You have a beautiful family. Enjoy them always. Juno

Beautiful, beautiful work. I especially like the way you incorporated more stars into the yellow band. I'm so sorry for your loss. Your work will be cherishing by your mother for years to come.