Thanks for all the help, quilters--it's done!

     I really want to thank everyone for your input into the Emma Block dilemma. I was really frustrated and took everyone's comments into account before I sewed those blocks together. Thanks Nancy and Kim for pointing out that not all teenagers like wallhangings. I pondered that one a while and decided to make the thing so it could be either a pillow or a wallhanging, whichever she decides.She decided on a pillow, which will always come in handy in the dorm!
      As you can see I went with the blue pinwheel. It had a lot of votes and the more I thought about it the more it made sense. You see, she made this in a class that she hated. The professor with the French accent was making her nuts at the beginning of the semester telling her she needed more "jazz" and movement. She is a person who likes things to be neat, realistic, and in order and the concept of "jazz" just didn't make any sense to her! I tried to tell her to tilt things or make something look like it was falling off the page and she just got mad at me and told me she doesn't think like me. So I decided the pinwheel had "jazz".
     I hope you can zoom in and
see the quilting design I did on this. This design is based on another of her dreaded assignments so I thought I would incorporate it too. I took the design and repeated the elements on paper until I had a complete design. Then I used a primary color variegated thread to sew right on the paper. It is such an easy technique (until you have to cut all the threads and tear all the paper).  I used the multi color thread because I figured just one color would disappear into the matching fabric so this way different elements pop. Jazz again!
      In addition to making this for her birthday I also made the craziest thing for her. When she was young she was obsessed with The Wizard of Oz books. She loved the Patchwork Girl of Oz and wanted to learn to sew to make a doll. She sewed old leftover blocks and scraps together (not very well, I must say!) to make a big piece of fabric to make into a doll. It has been haunting me every time I get into the UFO box and I decided to make her a doll. I used to make rag dolls back in the day but my patterns are buried in the bottom of the closet to I made up the pattern as I went along. I lost sleep for 3 nights figuring out how to make the wacky hair but I got it done and here it is.

Help me, quilters!!!

Emma's block

      Hi all you quilter friends out there. I need feedback and I need it ASAP. My daughter designed this "block" for a design class in college. She hated the class and for inspiration I told her if she made something good I would make it for her as a wallhanging. Well this A+ design is it so I made 4 blocks and THEN realized that they were weird to put together. I put them up on the design wall every way I could think of and can't decide what would look best. Stripey? Pinwheel? Red on top? Blue on top? Sashing? Square? Oblong? Ahhhhhhhh! I need to decide and I have 10 days to finish before she comes home for break. HELP!

Blue pinwheel

Oblong

Red pinwheel

Sashing

Blue down the middle

Do we really make quilts for others or are they actually just for us?

      Just wondering-when we give quilts to people do they appreciate them? We spend a lot of money  and HOURS working on quilts--all the planning, cutting, sewing. And then we give most of them away. Because I love them, I assume the recipient does also, but now I am not so sure.
      A couple years ago I gave each family member a quilt to donate to charity. Of the 15 quilts I am only sure that 2 were actually donated, 1 person made a donation in my name, and who knows about the rest. I choose to believe the people kept them because they loved them.
     Two days before Thanksgiving a family had a house fire and lost everything. The mom has cancer, her daughter and grandbabies were here, her college age son lost his computer and it really touched me. I had 2 quilts finished for charity but there were 3 kids so I spent the next 2 nights finishing another quilt. I gathered up a couple books and toys for the kids, baked a batch of cookies and took the quilts to them. No feedback but I choose to believe they appreciated them.
     Believe it or not one of my first quilts which I made back in the 70's before I really knew much ended up wrapping up my brother's dead dog and was buried with her. I'm OK with that. It needed to be put to rest, (We are supposed to burn worn out flags so why not bury worn out quilts, right?)

The one that got away

      I made quilts for each of my nieces and nephews when they graduated from high school and when they got married and had kids. I also made the t-shirt quilts for the Rokoff kids. I know for a fact the t-shirt quilts were appreciated and enjoyed (the boys used them as a pick up line in college. "Wanna come up and see my quilt?) I assumed the kids loved them because they came from me, but then I had a wake up call.
       I got an e.mail from a stranger who saw one of my quilts on the Goodwill auction site. It was listed with my name and she didn't want to buy it if it was stolen or not supposed to be sold. At first I didn't recognize the quilt but I really liked it. So I looked back at pictures and discovered it was the one I had given my nephew for his graduation. I choose to believe his wife didn't like it and donated it to Goodwill. But to be honest, my feelings are still hurt!
      I also make wedding quilts with pictures from the wedding. My (other) nephew really liked his but doesn't know what to do with it now that he is divorced! I never thought of that.
       So here is the conclusion I have come up with. I enjoyed making the quilts, I enjoyed giving the quilts, and I CHOOSE TO BELIEVE the recipient enjoyed getting them.

Sometimes Quilts just have to "marinate"

       If you have been reading my blogs regularly you know that my least favorite thing to do is borders..I have 2 large totes of UFO's. One is pieces--ziploc bags of blocks and misc. pieces, tops with no borders. The other tote is tops and there was also the purple/green woven quilt that needed finishing. In the last week I finished quilting and put on the binding of the purple/green woven quilt, and pulled out 3 different tops that needed borders. Each of the 3 tops had pieces of the fabrics with them so I had something for the borders but no plan. I didn't finish them before because I just couldn't decide what to do with them or I didn't have the right fabrics.

I won these blocks in a class
1986 (or 87)

        These are the 3 tops I finished this week. They each have stories that go along with them and I enjoyed my trip down memory lane. The red/white/blue one is the oldest. I won these blocks in a class I took all the way back in 1986 or 87! I think I wrote about rules in quilting and mentioned a woman who thought all reds go together. Well, there were 2 more blocks and there was no way I could put them with these--they are just too orange! (They are now pockets on my quilting tote bag and look very nice!). As I was working on this one this week I could not decide which block was mine. I have several of the fabrics in my stash and I would guess it is the one with the same blue that I used for the border, but I am not positive. I was happy to see that I had a half yard of red print put aside for this because there is almost no real red in the stores. Has anyone else noticed this? Why isn't there a real red with a small white or black print on it? I love this red but it isn't available any more. I had this top put together with the stripey sash with the stars a few years ago and was stuck after that. The other day it just hit me to make the stars for the corners and now I love it.

Mystery Quilt

         The second one is one I made in a mystery quilt class. It was a disappointment. The blocks were boring and I am not really a 5 fabric kind of quilter. I only had about a 1/3 yard of the Hoffman ribbon fabric so making a border of that was out so I came up with the triangle border idea. I like it but wish I could put one more border after it but none of the fabrics is available any more so it will get a ribbon fabric binding and that is it.

My birthday quilt 1997

          The last one is the most special to me. For several years I was part of the Brown Baggers and we would do a block for birthdays. We could choose the color or style of fabrics and everyone would make a block. I love reproduction fabrics and back in 97 when this was done they were new and really big. And to top it off I had picked up a pack of Sturbridge Village fabrics on a visit to Sturbridge Village. They are the 9 patches in the sashing. I enjoyed reading everyone's messages and teared up a bit when I read Rochelle's. She was my best friend for a lot of years and she passed away a few years ago. This is the only thing with her writing on it that I have. This was unfinished for a long time because I didn't have anything to border it with so I took it to Emma's Quilt Cupboard here in Franklin and found these fabrics. I may finish this one soon because I really like it.
         Each of these projects sat around for a long time waiting for inspiration and after a long marination they are almost done!

"I Spy" fun quilts for kids

Parker's I Spy Quilt

   Every year I do what I call my "January Project". This year I decided it was a good opportunity to make a baby quilt for my first grand niece, Haylie. Her brother Parker got a crazy I-Spy quilt so I wanted hers to be an I Spy also but different and more "girlie".  I have enjoyed the X Marks the Spot block so decided to do it all pastels. So I dug into the novelty fabric box and pulled out all the pastels and pulled out all the strips of pastels and went to town.
     For Christmas I got a goodie box full of beautiful fabrics. One of them seemed perfect for this project so it will be the border. I decided it was kind of nice to have a border in mind before I started so I cut a couple strips of the border fabric and made it a "rule" to have one piece of this fabric in each block.

Hayley's

               If you look in the center of Parker's quilt you can see the I Spy poem to go with the quilt. I thought I would share how I do this. I use the same rhythm and style of the I Spy books and I often include a book with the quilt as a gift. After making several of these quilts I have finally come up with a pretty good way of doing this. As soon as I have finished all the blocks I go through them one at a time and make a list of everything I "spy". Just like in the books it is important to include fun adjectives and phrases to describe the objects so the list includes things like "pigs that fly" and a birdhouse might rhyme better as "a house for a bird". I match up words that rhyme that I can use at the end of the lines and then I go to work to make 4 or 5 verses listing everything. I love fabrics that have words on them so if there is a word it is included with quotes. Looking for fun fabrics with words has become my new quest lately.
       Here's an example of a verse from one of my I Spy quilts: You can see it is possible to squeeze in 13 objects in one verse!
I spy a puppy, pink elephant, and cats
A bowl of rice, pumpkins, and #1 fire hat
Paint spatters, birdhouse, 4 pigs, jelly beans
"Catch and release", apples, and M&M that's green.
     In case you are curious as to how I get the verse on the fabric, it is actually pretty easy. You can buy computer fabric or you can make your own. I make my own with white fabric which I press onto freezer paper and cut to 8 1/2" x 11". You can then just run it through the inkjet printer. After it is finished it is important to press again to heat set. Do not use steam or water in the iron because it takes a little time for the ink to set and you might ruin it. (been there done that). I have it on good authority that after it is set you can wash the quilt and it won't wash out.
      This post has been in the draft phase forever and this week I finally finished it except for the binding and the poem. I plan to finish it for Christmas.

I've been quilting, really I have!

       Wow it has been a while since I posted here. It is not because I haven't been sewing it is because I haven't finished anything worth mentioning. My daughter went off to college and I did the cliche thing--I turned her room into a sewing room! She has the big room so I set up my 6 foot table in the middle and dubbed it my "Command Center". At one end is the sewing machine, the middle is the cutting board, and the other end is my homework. I have to take the national PTCB exam and the class was a lot of work.(I better pass!). I slide back and forth on my wheelie chair and switch when I get tired of one or the other.

Some of my blocks

        I have been doing LOTS of square in a square in a square blocks. I saw a quilt of just this block on Facebook and decided it was a good scrap project. I really wish I had saved it to my Pinterest page but I never think of that.  Of course I set up my own set of rules as I do with all scrap projects. In this case my rule was there had to be at least 1 novelty print in each block. For 2 months I cut and sewed and pressed and cut and sewed and pressed until I just had to say stop. I haven't counted but I would guess there are between 200 and 300 blocks waiting to be put together. The one I saw and liked had the blocks as the center AND the border with just a solid border between. I liked it and will definitely do one that way. The rest will be put together either for a center or a border. I like having a box full of finished blocks to use to finish a scrap project.

Just a peek at the UFO

        After I put that mess to bed I pulled out a quilt that I made at least 15 years ago. It was mostly quilted but I still had to decide what to do on the last border. I did a free form quilting thing and today I went to put on the binding that I had made all those years ago. I got to the end of the 3rd side and was out of binding! HUH? What was I thinking back then? I have no more of that fabric and had to tear it off and find something else to use. I am looking forward to this one being done. I love the pattern and colors and can't wait to take a photo to share. In the process of looking for more fabric I opened the UFO boxes and wanted to cry. Holy moley there are a lot of ziploc bags and unfinished tops and unlayered tops in there! I guess I know my January projects! I need to keep my eye on the batting sales at JoAnn. Now that I have the big table I will be able to layer some of the stuff.
     

Hayley's quilt (almost done)

I also finished the baby quilt for my grand niece Hayley. She is already over a year old but doesn't every kid need a blankie? I just have to finish sewing down the binding. It is tough to get old. I have the hardest time seeing to hand sew. I can sorta see if I sit in front of the window on a sunny day but I don't have enough light any other time. It is very frustrating. I wear progressive lenses and the distance that I have to see to sew by hand is not one of the distances that my glasses are set for! I talked to my eye doctor and he actually made me a pair of glasses JUST for that distance which is wonderful if I am not also trying to watch tv!  As I say--it is tough getting old!
         Well, Emma is coming home Saturday for Thanksgiving week so the Command Center has to go. I have to move back into the sewing room (boo hoo). It's time to start thinking Christmas  I guess!

T-Shirt Quilts--a great way to "scrapbook" with fabric!

My T-shirt quilt circa 1992

      I can't believe it. My daughter Emma has graduated from high school and is headed off to college in less than a month! For her graduation gift I made her a quilt with every t-shirt she had worn for her whole life. I saved them all! I started making t-shirt quilts a long time ago when I made one for myself. As you can see from the picture I do not go with the traditional method. I had lots of different sizes of t-shirt pictures and wanted each one to have the same look as far as negative space around the picture so I ended up with a more "crazy quilt" thing going on which is very ME. I reached into my scraps and added leftover pieces from quilts along with different strips and squares. I didn't border it and instead of quilting traditionally I bar-tacked wherever it was a good place to do it.
    At the time I was a nanny for 3 kids, Rob, Sam, and Laura Rokoff in Wellesley Mass. Their mom, June, and I decided it would be fun to make one for Rob for his graduation gift so we dug out as many of his old shirts as we could find on short notice and I made his. Quillows were very popular at the time so his is a quillow. As you can see, most of his shirts were similar colors so it was easy to border with reds and blacks to tie it all together.

Rob's t-shirt quilt

    A couple years later it was time to do Sam's. June had saved up lots more shirts and threw in some boxer shorts I had made for him as a kid and even went out and found the "Sam I Am" shirt! This was a bigger challenge and I finally decided he needed a 2-sided quilt. When I looked at his from a distance I saw lots of green so his borders are a green/black print fabric.

      Well, a couple years later it was time for Laura's. June had had several years to save up shirts for her so this one was a BIG challenge. So once again I did 2-sided and used a  batik for borders.

Rob's t-shirt quilt

      So I knew I had to do a quilt for Emma when she graduated. I saved all her shirts and periodically would cut them up to save up space. Then a couple years ago I figured I had better start on them or I would never finish. People have asked me several times through the years how I did them so I will try to list the steps I use in order and will give any tips and hints I have come up with. If anyone wants more info just ask--no problem.
1. Wash shirts (duh!)
2. Cut out the design logos  leaving a couple inches on all sides. Save any interesting tags. They add a touch of whimsy.

Sam's T-shirt quilt

3. Save up your money cuz here is where you will need it--buy woven fusible interfacing to fuse to the backs. You will need a LOT of it so I suggest using those JoAnn coupons for this. Woven is the only way to go. The shirts are stretchy and a non-woven interfacing will rip if stretched at all and just doesn't do the job. (You can, however, get away with it if you have any sweatshirts as they are not as stretchy and don't need as much stabilizing.) The interfacing comes in black or white and is only about 18" wide so you don't get much in a yard which runs around $5-6 a yard! This is an investment!
4. Cut interfacing a little smaller than each shirt logo.
5. Press each shirt. I recommend covering the ironing board with a cloth as some of the designs may transfer off a little when pressed. Always press with the design against the board. Make sure the logos are pressed square and have not gotten lopsided.
6. Fuse the interfacing to the backs of each piece.
7. Another investment that is well worth it is a 12" square ruler. Use your ruler and rotary cutter to cut the logos about 1 1/2" to 2" bigger than the design.
8. Now is the fun part--designing the quilt. If you have a big design wall, just lay them out in a nice design leaving space between them for the connecting sashings and whatever fabrics you want to use. You can do all the sashing with the same fabric, giving a look like each logo is floating on the same background or you can go totally scrappy. Whatever you like...
9. Because everything is so many different sizes I put them together in "units". Each unit is 2-5 logos depending on their sizes. Then the units are sewn together using more sashings.
10. At this point it is your choice to add borders or not. A 2-sided quilt should have some sort of borders because it is hard to make the 2 sides exactly the same size.
11. Now it is time to decide how you want to put the layers together. I decided early on that I wanted to use polyester batting with a bit of a loft. I don't use the mid to high loft polyester as a general rule but for this I wanted a lightweight batting with some depth to it.

Sam's t-shirt quilt side 2

12. Do you want binding or not? That will determine the next step. I prefer no binding because the quilt is puffy and the binding makes the edge kind of "sharp" or stiff or something. But that is up to you.
13. Do you plan to tie, machine quilt, bar-tack? Your layering method will be different for each method and will be different if you use binding
14. From her on I will tell you how I do mine and if you want ideas for other methods I will be glad to help. If the quilt is 2 sided I think this is the only way to go. I use the old fashioned turn inside out method.
Pin the 2 sides together all around the quilt. I've found it works best to use a walking foot and stitch all around before adding the batting, leaving an opening about 18-25" long to turn the quilt. I found it is easier to do it this way than doing all 3 layers at once because the darn pins get tangled up in the batting and it is frustrating to keep it all together so I do it in 2 steps. After checking to be sure there are no puckers and it fits well I lay it on the batting, pin it down and sew on the same line again. When I get to the opening I sew the batting to just 1 layer because it makes it easier to keep the layers smooth. I came up with this with trial and error (lots of error) and you are always welcome to do whatever works for you.
15. Turn the quilt right side out through the opening. The easiest way is to reach into the opening, get a good hold on the opposite side and pull through--easy peasy.

Laura's t-shirt quilt

16. Now it is  time to put the layers together. I don't have a lot of space so I layer in section about 18-24" square.. I use straight pins and put the pin where I want to bar-tack.  After I pin and before I sew, I check the back to make sure no tacks will be going through somewhere it will look bad.
17. I use a stitch about medium width and 0 length with a neutral cream colored thread. I bar-tack where the pins are and after the section is done,I cut all trailing threads on both sides and check for any puckers or errors and correct as I go along.  Then I do another section. If you wait to do this checking/cutting step you will regret it. The trailing threads on the back get caught and cause puckering so it is best to keep up and do it as you go along.
18. Hand stitch the opening closed and you are done.

     On Emma's quilt I went a few steps beyond the t-shirts. Because this is like a scrapbook quilt I got the idea to add pictures of her wearing the shirts. So here are those additional instructions.
1. Scan each picture into the computer. Arrange as many pictures as you can onto a page leaving at least 3/4" between pictures for cutting and seam allowances.

Emma's t-shirt quilt

2. Print onto fabric. You can buy prepared fabrics for this purpose or can make your own. To make your own, take good quality washed muslin (can you believe I wash it?) The ink will last better on fabric with no sizing. Press fabric perfectly smooth and then iron on to freezer paper. The wax from the freezer paper will stick to the fabric. Cut the paper 8 1/2" x 13" which is the size of regular paper and print with your regular printer. (Make sure to do a test print with regular paper to see which side of the paper it prints on.) Experiment with your printer. I had one printer that had trouble catching the fabric sheet and it would jam which wasted the piece so I came up with a solution which I use all the time now. I use tape folded over the edge to stablize and strengthen and it almost never jams any more.
3. Let printed fabric sit for a day to set, then press with dry iron to help the ink set more before cutting apart. Do not remove freezer paper until ready to sew. After I had done half the quilt I realized that it might have been better to interface the photos before using because they are quite a bit lighter/thinner than the shirts, but since I used small pictures I think they will be ok.

Emma's t- shirt quilt side 2

I then got the idea to add patches. We had lots of Girl Scout patches that were not sewn to her vest ( I just couldn't bring myself to cut up her sash or vest) so I put a few on. Be careful if the patch has corners as these are kind of sharp so it is a good idea to sew down with a small zigzag stitch around the edge. I also had some archery patches so I put them next to her senior picture which is her holding her bow.

I used LOTS and LOTS of interesting novelty fabrics to represent things she enjoys doing and after a while it was obvious I had the makings of an "I Spy" Quilt. So I wrote up a poem and put it on one side. (The next blog is dedicated to the I Spy quilt so stay tuned!)

Emma's I Spy

When I started sewing the units together 2  1/2 years ago I used lots of black/whites for sashings and when it was time to sew the units together she informed me she wanted BLUE in her dorm so I dug up all my blues and used them wherever I could to get blue all over! Figures, doesn't it!

I've probably left out something important and if anyone notices please let me know and I will add it in!