Small quilt on queen bed

I didn't intend for this to be a bed quilt, but a good size lap quilt.  I don't even know if it will stay here or move on to Louisville with the kids.  But, I am very, very fond of it.  It measures about 68 x78.  I put another quilt underneath that has a white border and a binding of navy.  Of course, the cream colored bed skirt would look better if it was navy, red, or even white.  Did I tell you I love this quilt?  Lol, I do.  I washed and dried it and it seems so snuggly.

The other shirt quilt is the one draped across my grandmother's trunk.

Finished!

I used another shirt to make the binding and quilted it with the pantograph, "Happy Times."

My Rule

Typically I spend 12 hours a day working/commuting, so I have a rule that says, "Don't sew on nights when you have to go to work the next day."  I am such a night person that I could easily end up sewing until midnight and not even realize it.  Getting up at 4:45 am  would then be so hard on this night person.

But tonight, I just couldn't help it.  I am in love with this quilt top.  To me, it says...tradition.... prairie.... homemade....and Elijah.  I am enthralled with making something useful and/or beautiful out of normal "throwaway" items such as old worn-out, out-grown, shirts.

So here is another picture of the #2 Shirt Quilt.  I've got four rows put together.  Only have four more to do, then it is ready for the borders and the quilting machine.  I want to have it ready by Friday to go pick the fabric for the border and backing. I love the way the plaids are kind of skewed, I love the buttery softness of some of the well worn fabric, I love the mixed up mess of different plaids, stripes, and the one lone solid fabric.....it is just so.......traditional.

Jackpot

I took Bonnie Hunter's lead, and visited the Goodwill store.  100% cotton, name brand, woven shirts $1 each!  I bought 9 and feel like I've hit the jackpot.  That is at least 18 yards of great fabric for scrappy quilts.  I want to be more intentional and thrifty in 2011.  I easily spend > $100 on most gift quilts I make.  I am going to do my best to only make quilts this year using my scraps, unless it is just for something extra special!

Same Shirts, second quilt

I still have so much fabric left from the shirts, I am trying to do another quilt using (again) a Bonnie Hunter pattern - you can get this free from her website, www.quiltville.com.  It is called "Bricks and Stepping Stones".  Even the small 4-patch blocks are made from Elijah's favorite pale teal colored shirt and a gray one he didn't wear much.  The other pieces are cut into bricks 3 1/2 x 6 1/2.  Here are the blocks so far just laid out together. I only lack four more then I will be ready to sew them in rows.

Elijah and Katie were home for a quick visit (he preached yesterday morning). I think they liked the shirt quilt.  He left it here because I am thinking of entering it in the Pigeon Forge quilt show.  I think I am going to like this one too.

2 down

Finished the second leftover wall hanging.  I like the little blue binding; too bad I didn't have enough of it to bind both of them.

One down, one to go

Just finished this one.  Here is also a picture of the back.  I used all leftovers on this.  Custom quilted using "Mother Goose" thread.  My favorite thread, seems to go with almost everything.  I am still not very good at custom work, but with the help of the Pajama Quilter and some other books I've got, I keep trying.

Leftovers

I decided to use some leftover blocks and make two wallhanging/table quilts.  Yes, there were a lot of leftover blocks.  These were from a project that started out being a bed quilt, but ended up being a lap quilt.  One of these is going in my office at work.

Snowed in

As you can see we received about 5 inches of snow.  My work was cancelled yesterday and I decided not to try to come off my big hill today.  I am about to get cabin fever.....but I have used the time to finish the shirt quilt for my son.  I love the way it turned out.  I quilted it using a pantograph called Spilt Paint.

Shirt Quilt

I started with about 18 shirts.  I finished this quilt (all except the outer border is from the shirts), have enough 2 1/2 in strips to do another one, have more than enough 3 1/2 x 6 1/2 "bricks" to make Bonnie Hunter's "Bricks and Stepping Stones" quilt, plus a ton of extra 2 1/2 inch blocks to make another quilt!  Unbelievable how much material is in one large/extra large shirt.  This pattern is also one from Bonnie Hunter.  It is called Strip Twist.

This one is about 62 x 78 inches.  I used some denim for the outer border and mom gave me some blue chambray to use for the backing.  I am thinking about stitching in one of the pockets from a pair of Levi's on the back....just something a little unique.

If you look closely, you can see some of the shirt labels I included in the strips - Arizona, Ben Sherman, Faded Glory, Duck Head; most were casual shirts.  The red was a Pierre Cardin dress shirt.

Updating

I am trying to update the looks of my blog.  Bear with me!

Back on the shirt quilt

I finally got back doing a bit on the shirt quilt.  I hope Elijah likes it.  Not sure yet how big I will make it.  It is amazing how much material you can get from a shirt, but it takes a long time to cut one up into strips.

Last day off

Well, today has been the last day off for me and the holidays.  Heading back to work tomorrow.  I think I am ready.  I've been home two weeks.  I think that is the most I've been off work in 25 years when I was off with a C-Section!  Had my family from Oklahoma here for a week; I've made two quilts, cleaned out my vanity, my medicine cabinet, and the linen closet, took a load to Goodwill, and finished a very long book (Unbroken by Laura Hillenbran - excellent!), started and almost finished another book (The Silver Sword by Angela Hunt), and started an exercise program on the Wii Fit.  It has been a good two weeks.

Bear Country

Finished the quilting using the pantograph, Leaf Litter.  Just need to put the binding on.  Then, I really need to get back on piecing the quilt made from Elijah's shirts.