CSC Luau Champs Quilt

In 2004 two of my boys participated in a competition swim league called C.S.C. or the Cavalier Swim Club. 

Each summer at the end of the season there is a large competition where all the clubs in the 

A-K Valley league gather for a large swim meet. 

In 2004 it was our local Vandergrift club's turn to host.  

There was food and fun, a basket raffle, 50/50, etc. All the stuff that make 

something like this a fun afternoon.

A good friend of mine and fellow quilter, who also had boys swimming in the club, 

decided that the two of us should make a quilt to raffle off for this event. 

We tag-teamed putting it together - she did the cutting while I did the sewing. 

It was so much fun! 

We had a  friend with a long-arm machine do the quilting and a neighbor with a 

professional embroidery machine stitched on the logo. (The theme was a Luau). 

I wish I had a photo of the little girl who won the raffle. She was also a member of the club, 

which thrilled us both! We were so glad that someone we knew won the quilt and pillow.

Mosaic Scrap Quilt

 

This particular quilt was in a magazine called Quick & Easy Quilts and caught my eye in early 2001.  

It looks complicated with all those little squares,  but when you follow the directions 

(something all quilters learn to do), it works.  I completed my version in 2002.

It was the first quilt that I'd actually purchased fabric for - pre "stash".  

I chose a burgundy and blue color palette. 

I added an extra border to make it just a little larger

The Mosaic Scrap Quilt hangs on my wall to this day. 

It reminds me of what I can accomplish when I put my mind to it.

T-Shirt or Memory Quilts - A Quick "How to"...

T-Shirt or Memory Quilts are a wonderful way to preserve special times, places, events, 

or activities in your life. If you have a collection of t-shirts and are considering making 

one yourself, or having one made, this blog is just a quick look at how they go together. 

Sampler front

Sampler back

This pictorial is not meant to be a step-by-step guide to make a quilt, and if you're planning to put one together on your own, please let me suggest you do some on-line research or purchase an instruction book or pattern. I'd hate to have you use this blog and then realize you need more information than it contains. 

Collect your t-shirts and examine the designs on all that you plan to use. (20 blocks will make a nice sized lap quilt - 4 across and 5 down.) Make sure you measure and note the t-shirt with the largest design. Also note any wording on sleeves or designs on the back. 

 Cut on the side seams and cut off the sleeves. 

Using a Teflon or non-stick ironing sheet so fusible interfacing doesn't stick to the ironing board, 

press your fusible interfacing to the wrong side of your shirt. I use the back of an old t-shirt as a 

pressing cloth over the interfacing. The iron slides better. Press using the setting 

instructions that come with the interfacing you purchase. 

Using a quilters square ruler or template, mark the area to be cut. If using a rotary cutter 

(that thing that looks like a pizza wheel), cut your block around your square ruler. 

A 15" ruler makes a nice sized finished block.

Blocks are cut in various sizes, ready for the framing or "sashing" fabrics that 

bring them up to the block size you have decided to use. You can get fancy and

choose different fabrics that coordinate with the individual blocks, or you can

choose one fabric to frame all the blocks the same. Personally, I prefer the fun, 

"scrappy" look of using different fabrics.

Add your framing or sashing on your t-shirt block. If you have more than one graphic in the block 

(something that was on the sleeve, for example), design and sew the sections together. 

I use 1/4" seams to sew the fabric on to the blocks. 

This is where you decide how you're going to quilt your t-shirt quilt. If you are going to send it out and have someone with a long-arm quilting machine do that step, then you would square up all your blocks to the same size, lay them out in a pleasing design and sew them all together. If you're more adventurous and decide you're going to quilt it yourself, the "quilt as you go" method works very well for sewing your blocks together. 

Cut your batting and your backing fabric about 2" wider and longer than your block, so that when you lay them out to make the quilt sandwich you have 1" excess on all 4 sides. I like to use fusible batting and iron it to the block (being extremely careful NOT to touch the hot iron to the t-shirt graphic).  However, cotton batting will work just as well. 

Once you have your 3 layers, you will need to mark your block for quilting. I used a straight edge 

and a chalk wheel to mark an "X" on the block then echoed it a few times to fill in the space.  

Make sure you check the batting instructions as most will tell you how far apart you need 

to quilt in order for the batting not to shift or bunch up with use and laundry.

Pin the layers well before sewing so the layers don't shift. And make sure you have a "walking foot" 

on your machine. You really need one to keep the layers from shifting while you're sewing.

Once your blocks are quilted, square them up. You should now have 20 (or however many you 

decided to put into your quilt) quilted blocks ready to assemble using the "quilt as you go" method. 

Noah's Quilt - or What to do With our Favorite T-shirts

T-Shirts are funny things. They seem to multiply in our drawers. 

One day we open the top drawer and out pop thirty T's that just won't fit back in again. 

We wear them for all occasions -  we dress them up or we go casual, sometimes we even sleep in them. We love our T's. We collect them for all our activities including our sports, our social groups, our favorite bands, our school clubs. We have them from the time we are babies until we're senior citizens. There are t-shirts for just about every occasion, in every color and for every aspect of our lives. Some have such special meaning and fond memories for us that they are irreplaceable. They might be too small and have holes, but for very personal reasons, they aren't going in the trash!

So what do we do with all those T's you ask?  Come on now - you're talking to a quilter! You know, the people who never throw away even a 2" piece of scrap fabric!!  WE MAKE A QUILT!

Noah is my nephew, son of my SIL. He lives in another state, and sadly we don't get to spend much time with him or his family. So when it came time to make a high school graduation quilt for Noah, I was clueless as to his taste in color, pattern, fabrics, etc. And really, he's a guy, so even if we lived close and saw each other every day, I probably still wouldn't know what he preferred.

That's where my SIL came in. I asked if she thought he'd like a T-shirt quilt (or Memory Quilt as they're sometimes called). She brought me some T's to use. As difficult as it was to "borrow" t-shirts from his drawers and feign ignorance when he wondered where that particular shirt disappeared to, she managed to pull it off and brought a nice selection.

The T's are cut, framed, quilted and sewn together in blocks.

Hey, that's me! We were having "Show & Tell" at the quilt club I 

belong to and someone took my photo.

And this is Noah after opening his quilt. I think he likes it! 

Love you, Noah!!

Jake's Quilt

I had several roommates while in college. Living in a dorm and even in an apartment meant close quarters and really getting to know a person. A few of those roommates I've chosen to just forget, for various reasons.  I bonded with one in particular, who was fun and outgoing, everything I wasn't but hoped to be. Over the years we went our separate ways, and time took it's toll. We will get together occasionally  and it's just like time stood still. We can laugh and talk, complain and joke. 

She was and is, in many ways, the sister I never had.

She has a son who means the world to her. When he was about to graduate from high school she attempted to make a t-shirt quilt for him. Let's just say that she had collected about 5 times the normal number of shirts that would go into a t-shirt quilt, and had tried her best to cut the squares out to piece them together. 

I think she realized she was in a little over her head. It was at that point that we met for 

lunch and I offered to put it together for her. 

It was my first attempt at a t-shirt quilt. As I  looked through the shirt panels (there had to be at least 80), I was amazed at her dedication. She had saved items from his infancy through his high school years. There were all kinds of sports shirts, scouting shirts, photo shirts, family shirts and school shirts. 

Just about every aspect of his 18 years was captured in those shirt blocks.

This is Jake.

The quilt was finished in 2005.

There are at least 50 blocks in the quilt. It is HUGE! Because there were so many blocks, 

I didn't put sashing between them. Imagine how large it would have been if I had !?! 

There were so many extra blocks I made him a very large tote to pack the quilt in. 

I think it was used as a laundry bag when he went off to college. 

I'm so glad I was able to make this quilt for Jake. 

And even though I don't see his mom as much as I would like, I hope she thinks about me.  

I will always remember her and the wonderful adventures we had in college.

Too Many Bowls

 Many years ago, a very creative friend named Mary Ann, attended a quilt club meeting and demonstrated to the group how we could take ordinary cotton clothesline and transform it into beautiful and functional bowls.  She hauled in her sewing machine and explained that she would sit at her machine and wrap the little strips of scrap fabric around the clothes line when her TV shows were on, and then sew the clothesline together during the commercials.  I thought the concept was unique and looked like fun, but didn't jump into making them until several years later.  But once I jumped in, 

it was with both feet and after I finished that first bowl, I was hooked!

I have made several over the years, mostly to turn into gift baskets for Christmas or to donate to a Chinese Auction. I just tuck in a mug or 2, add a few coasters, hot chocolate, cookies, maybe coordinating napkins, and Viola! 

A hand crafted, made with love, one of a kind gift.

This was a Christmas raffle exchange a few years ago at the quilt club. Pam won this bowl. 

I took a bowl to Show & Tell at the quilt club, and the club ladies asked me to teach them. I got to turn a whole new group on to this contagious technique! 

 This is one of the largest bowls I've made. I just used scraps from my quilting scrap bag. (Quilters always have lots of scraps. We can't throw anything away!) You have to use strips that are about 1/2" wide and about 12" long.  But really, as long as you can wind it around the clothesline, it will work. A little dab of a glue stick on each end of the fabric to hold it down, and you can sit and wrap away a whole evening of your favorite TV shows. I guess I got carried away...

Bandit even wanted to help!

  In case you've never made one, after you wrap the clothesline, you coil it and sew it together with a zigzag stitch. In order to get the sides to go up, you hold the coil up against the machine and keep sewing around the coil. Eventually, you get sides.

My sewing room is crowded enough without adding bowls to the mix.

 After a while, the clothesline bowls started stacking up in my sewing room. I had to either stop making them, or come up with something to do with what I already had.

 

I put them on the table to take inventory.

What to do with all these bowls...  I decided to take them to a craft fair and see if I could sell them. It sounded like a good idea at the time, but it was an outdoor fair and you guessed it, it rained. 

Needless to say, I only sold one item, a little Mug Rug.

Some specifics on certain bowls:

Thanksgiving centerpiece maybe?

Mug Rugs, sets of 4 - the green & purple one sold at the fair.

2pc Bowl with lid

This one was made by wrapping the clothesline with white muslin and then dying 

the finished project. Not sure the technique is worthy of another attempt 

as it was supposed to be red, but the final product, with the beaded fringe attached, 

did turn out pretty.

Tote Bag

The tote bag was made without wrapping the clothesline. It's just dyed cotton clothesline shaped into a tote. See the difference in the colors? The tote and bowl were dyed in the same red bath, but they absorbed the color differently.

Bright and Cheery!

 This one was made using only one fabric, cut into strips. It was not my favorite pattern (or color) as yardage, but it turned out pretty nice as a bowl. Or what about using it to hold a plant? Violets maybe?

I decided that this red, white and blue one was just a little too "bright". I thought I could tea-dye it to tone it down. Maybe I didn't let it soak long enough. I really couldn't tell the difference in the before and after.

Kool-Aid bowls

I used cherry Kool-Aid to dye this batch of clothesline.  I wanted to try the crochet edging and you can't do that with fabric wrapped line. I'm afraid it would unravel without the stitching to hold it together.

So there you have it, I have a lot of clothesline bowls. I guess I'll have to make up some gift bowls for the holidays and surprise a few people.  If you get one, act surprised!

It would have been nice to sell them, but quilters already know that most of their items will be given away. That's just a fact, and the way we are. (And even though these aren't "quilted", the same stands true for bowls I guess. )

I personally would rather know that someone loved my bowl enough to put it out on their table or shelf, than know that I made money selling it.

Have fun BOWLING!

Molly's Quilt

 Molly is another of my nieces, who also happens to live far away (same country, different state). She is the daughter of hubby's sister. I don't get to see Molly much, but I enjoy the snippets I get on Facebook 

or the stories that I hear from her grandmother, who is here in PA. 

 Molly celebrated a very special occasion in October 2011, and this quilt was a 

gift to honor her as she had her Bat Mitzvah. 

 It is full of bright fun colors, and reminds me of Molly's bubbly personality. 

It's a "quilt as you go" quilt, so each individual block is pieced and quilted separately, 

then connected to the other squares with the strips between the blocks. 

It's one of my favorite ways to quilt. No wrestling a huge quilt under a small sewing machine.

 

 This is the back of the quilt.

 This was the label on the back of the quilt.