Non-Typical T-Shirt Quilt {WIP}

Melissa's non-typical T-Shirt Quilt is coming along nicely.

Borders attached.....

 First steps of Trapunto work finished...

Twelve 50 Wt. Aurifil thread colors chosen....

Free Motion Quilting time begins! 

Thanks for stopping by and saying Hi.

God Bless & Happy Quilting!

Marcia 

 P.S. Stop by the shop www.littlepinkrose.com where 

you'll find everything by Tula Pink marked down 20% this weekend.

"Memories" {A Christmas Finish}

Today I'm happy to reveal the finished "Memories" Quilt a non-typical T-Shirt Quilt. 

I say non-typical, because as you will notice there are absolutely no T-Shirts to be found anywhere in this quilt, it's all plaid and flannel shirts that were favorites of the soon-to-be recipient. Additionally the blocks are only 4-inches square instead of the typical 12-14 inch blocks with sashing normally found in a T-Shirt quilt. 

To prepare the shirts I cut away the seams, buttons and pockets then ironed a feather weight interfacing to the  back of the fabric sections. On a typical T-Shirt quilt I add the interfacing to stabilize the T-Shirts and tame the natural stretch they have. I chose to interface these shirts as well even though they didn't have any unruly stretch, I knew I wouldn't be able to cut every block on the grain and I wanted to avoid some blocks stretching out of shape due to being cut off grain. 

 The interfacing does add a little bit of weight to the quilt, but not too much.

I'm sure you've already guessed that the recipient of this quilt is a big Ohio Buckeye's fan.  The Block "O" is a layered applique. The red is from the same red shirt as the solid blocks in the rest of the quilt top. For the white and gray in the applique I used Pure Elements Solids from Art Gallery Fabric: Moonstone Gray and Snow White. The Buckeye and the Leaf are both made from shirts. 

To keep all the pieces in place I used fusible web on each layer. This did cause it to be a bit more stiff than I had hoped for, but it will soften with use and washing. The red and white layers of the "O" were satin stitched to the gray before it was attached to the quilt. Then to attach the entire "O" I fused it to the quilt then satin stitched it the around the gray layer  to quilt top before adding the leaf and the buckeye. Once everything was stitched in place I did an outline stitch around each element. The only place I had a little trouble was when straight stitching around the leaf where there were several layers of fusible web and fabric. My needle didn't really care too much for the fusible web, but we made it through it.

The numbers came from the sleeves of an Ohio Buckeye's jersey and are a part of the quilt in memory of this young man's brother whose Volunteer Fire Fighter number was 11 and who was tragically killed in a car accident earlier this year. 

To attach the number I added some fusible web to the back of each number to help tack them in place until I was able to stitch-in-the-ditch between the red and gray stitching.

The quilting is a Free-Motion All Over Medium Meander Stitch. It's bigger than a stipple stitch, but smaller than an a regular meander. I like it for it's ability to give a good amount of stability to all the layers while remaining soft.  If you're curious about how I use an inkjet printer to create my labels click HERE and scroll to the end of the post. 

I just have to share this picture....love it when I can catch my helper peeking at me over the top of a quilt! He's just too cute and so much fun!!! 

Quilt Info: 

Finished Size: 56-1/4" x 71-3/4"

Backing and Binding: Free Spirit Designer Solid Slate Gray (available at www.littlepinkrose.com)

Thread: Aurifil 50Wt. Color number 1158

Batting: 1 layer 70% Cotton 30% Rayon

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog, I greatly appreciate the time you've spent with me here! 

Merry Christmas & God Bless,

Marcia 

Keeping it Real

I've been kind of quiet on here lately, but for good reason. 

I've been working like mad on a couple of quilts, one due before Christmas the other as soon as I can finish it.  I'm one of those that as I'm working things tend to get messier and messier until the deadline is finished and I can take a breath. As I scanned my studio before heading off to bed last night it occurred to me that you might enjoy seeing what it looks like when in use. 

Time to get back to the machine today is sandwich day for the quilt on the ironing board. 

I'll be back in a few days with pics of the finished quilt. 

Thanks for stopping by and sharing part of your day with me.

Merry Christmas & God Bless,

Marcia 

A Tour of My New Studio

It's only taken me three tries to finally get my studio/shop set up just right for sewing, quilting and packaging fabric. I thought you all might enjoy a tour of the studio.  Our new house is about half the size of our last house and surprising to some we absolutely love the smaller house! 

I have to say that my husband is the best husband a girl could ask for! I happily gave me the entire finished portion of the basement for my shop/studio. 

Straight in front of you when you first walk in is the sewing, pressing and project cutting stations.  The fabric shelves extend around the right side of the room.

On the sewing table to the side of the machine is an area with all the little gadgets most often needed when being creative.

To the left of the sewing station is the office/computer area.

This is my personal stash, WIPs, and a comfy rocker for handwork or a friend to join me for a day of fabric play and visiting.

To the right of the sewing area the shop's fabric shelves continue around the room. I'll be adding some more shelves soon for all the new fabric on it's way. In front of the sliding patio doors is a room divider displaying several of the quilts I've made and situated to protect the fabric from the afternoon sun. Just outside the sliding doors is a wonderful porch swing where I can take my hand stitching and enjoy the fresh autumn air.

Opposite of the fabric is the cutting and packaging station as well as my design wall. 

A wonderful feature of the area is that it has a full bathroom so I'm not having to run upstairs all the time. Thank God for the little things! 

 It is a wonderful creative space and shop area and I thank God and my husband for blessing me with such a wonderful gift! I'm enjoying working here and look forward to many hours of sewing, packaging fabric and sewing with friends who come by to enjoy the creative space with me!

Thanks for joining me on this tour of my studio and shop. 

I hope you enjoyed the tour!

God Bless & Happy Quilting!
Marcia

Retirement Dreams {A Finish}

 A friend of ours retired from the US Army last week and being the somewhat unconventional woman that I am I wanted to make a quilt for his wife who had become a good friend over the years. Since I figured a quilt wasn't something a man would truly enjoy as a retirement gift I told my hubby it was his job to find an appropriate gift while I worked on the quilt. I love having a reason to make a quilt especially when it's for a  sweet friend!

For this quilt I used all batiks, those beautiful hand-dyed prints from Indonesia.

 Just gorgeous!!

The pattern uses 8 1/2" squares and 1" x 8 1/2" strips. 

Then working one block at a time slice it straight across, sew the strip where the square was just cut, continuing to cut the square and sew in strips on each block. 

If I were to make this pattern again, I would have started with 9" squares, sewn in the strips and then cut the squares down to 8 1/2" square.  As I worked with the squares I found it a bit difficult to keep everything perfectly lined up and square, being able to start larger and trim it down would have saved me a lot of headache and aggravation.  

When it came time to layout the blocks I put everything up on my design wall.

I wanted to make sure that the layout was balanced. 

To be able to see the balance better I took a picture of it up on the design wall, then switched it a black & white photo to help me see how the dark, medium and lights were laid out against each other.

 Doing this helped me see that there were several sections where too many of the same tone were right next to each other.

I printed off the black and white pic and went to work rearranging the blocks for the right balance. 

Tested it again with another black and white photo and found this to be a much more pleasing balance. 

The finished quilt

 Personalized label.

Monique and her finished quilt.

Quilt Stats: 

Pattern: Cranberry Chutney by Madison Cottage Design

Finished size: 64" x 72" 

Free-motion quilted with an allover medium meander stitch with 50 wt. Aurifil #1318.

Batting 1 layer of 70% Cotton, 30% Rayon batting. 

Monique, I hope you enjoy your quilt for many years to come! 

Thanks for stopping by and allowing me to share with you what I've been working on recently. 

God Bless & Happy Stitching!
Marcia