Wide Stripes T-shirt Quilt

As many of you know we like to make t-shirt memory quilts around here.  What you may not know is that also leaves us with quite a bit of t-shirt scraps--some pieces are smaller than others, but sometimes we have entire blank backs that go unused.

So after finishing my last t-shirt quilt I decided to challenge myself and use up the "leftovers" of the t-shirts and turn them into a quilt of some sort. I've been holding onto these for quite some time.

What I came up with was a brick like pattern using 6 inch and 3 inch strips.  Basically getting the stripes as wide as I could based on what I had. 

 This baby is LARGE!  And crazy, but I am pleased with the final result.

My 6'5" son and I are holding this up--widthwise--because it was too big to hold up lengthwise.

The backing was made from a chambray sheet and then added some additional stripes

so that it would be long enough.

Close-up of the quilting.  I asked Lynn for some simple lines to hold it all in place and then some random pebbling on a couple of the smaller stripes.   I love the pebbling!  If I ever do one of these again I would have her do every other or every 3rd row with the pebbling.

And here is my dad enjoying his new quilt.

He likes them HUGE so he can tuck it under everywhere.

And he also likes the added weight of the t-shirt fabric.

Details:

• Don't forget to interface all the t-shirt pieces so there is no stretching, especially for the quilter.
• Finished size 82 inches by 105 inches.  Yes, it is HUMONGOUS!!  Just the way this Arizona boy likes it so that he doesn't freeze to death.
• Quilted by Lynn Peterson.

Links to some other t-shirt quilts we've made or featured here on our blog.

• Samuel's quilt
• Lexanne's quilt
• Madisson's quilt
• Bria's quilt
• The twin Harley-Davidson quilts
• Ann's quilt for her daughter Lucy

Next up for me in another random improve t-shirt quilt.  It is done and needs a backing and to be quilted.  And I'm almost finished with daughter #2's t-shirt graduation quilt.  Hers will be interesting as it is a combo of 2 different high schools and other random shirts thrown in.  Can't wait to show them off when they are finished.

Alexander's T-shirt Quilt

Alexander is the son of my good friend Cindy.  I've known him since he was born. 

This Spring he graduated from high school.  I told him that if they wanted to pay for the materials I would put the time in and make him a t-shirt quilt for his graduation gift. 

Alexander was all over that. 

He is a funny kid.  He has Asperger's and is very OCD about some things.  It was difficult for him at first to go thru all his shirts and "give" them away, even though the majority of them didn't even fit him anymore. However, having them in a quilt will make both him and his mom happy (i.e. less shirts in his dresser drawers sitting there doing nothing).

I had him go thru his t-shirt stash with me and he showed me the ones that for SURE had to go in the quilt and then depending on how the size and design ended up we had another pile of shirts to add to as needed.  I didn't use up all the shirts he gave me, but we did use 24 of them.  Not everyone will have that many shirts but Alexander NEVER wears a solid t-shirt....NEVER.  It has to have some logo or something on it.

This is the first time I have put together a t-shirt quilt that didn't involve the majority to be school or sports themed shirts.  In fact, he only had one shirt that represents his school.  Instead, Alexander likes video games, goofy sayings, Star Wars, Pokémon, etc.  So I had to pull that all together in this quilt.

Here is the top all put together before sending it off for quilting.

He picked out his sashing/border fabric as well as the backing fabric.  He wanted to choose and not have me pick out something for him.  Fine with me.

I just heard back that the quilting is done and I should get it back next week.  I asked Lynn to quilt his name and graduation year on a blank block that I included in the quilt since he didn't have any shirts with his name.  I guess I need to go find some binding fabric to go with now that I know the quilt is coming back.

Details:

• Zelda and Gang fabric from JoAnn's.  Needed 6 yds. for the backing and it couldn't be matched perfectly.  I tried.  From a distance it will hardly be noticeable.

• Mario border fabric also from JoAnn's. Used about 1 1/2 yd. 
• 24 t-shirt fronts pieced together.
• T-shirt quilt ideas from Pinterest.

The other t-shirt quilts that we've put together.

Daughter #1 grad quilt

Harley Twins

Bria's grad quilt

Samuel's grad quilt

Madisson's grad quilt

Timber!

We live on a corner lot backed up to a pond.
Below is the view from our back deck towards the street and our large cottonwood tree.

As pretty as it is, I hate it!
It is extremely messy (think cotton fluff sticking to all your window screens) and hubby and some of our kids are allergic to it.  It also shades the "garden" area that we yanked out earlier in the summer.  Actually I paid my oldest son to get rid of it.  I didn't want to do it, and he wanted money.  Win-win for both of us.

The garden spot was a mess, raised bed with rotted wood, lots of weeds, landscape fabric poking out everywhere and horrible location, albeit probably the only realistic place to put a garden on the property. But really with the location of this tree there was just no way anything was ever going to grow there with constant shade.



So the decision was made that it would have to go.



Hubby and I have cut down trees before.
He does the climbing and cutting and I work the ground part hauling stuff out of the way, etc.



About halfway there.



All down on the ground. Big mess to clean up and even after all the wood we kept we had 3 van loads of other branches that we got rid of.



Hubby geared up for safety.  He straps in his safety harness when he gets up high.





So, what is the plan now that it is down?
Well, we are deciding whether or not to put a garden spot back in that same area, and/or we are going to put a fire pit area there.  We have all Fall and Winter to figure it out and tweak the plans.

We also put together a firewood storage station using this idea from Pinterest





and for kindling this one.






Can't split these yet until they dry out for awhile....like next Spring.



We'll see if this stump removal idea works for us.

We drilled all the holes and filled them with Epsom salt.  So here's hoping that this along with a Minnesota Winter will rot it out good so in the Spring we can get rid of it easily.

Omaha Quilt finished

Last weekend while we were in Nebraska I gave my nephew Josh his Omaha inspired quilt.

His 25th birthday is this week.  And unfortunately for him he graduated from high school a little before the time that we were into quilts.  So this'll make up for that.



At his parents' house for the big reveal.
"This feels soft and squishy."



Big smiles are always a good sign.



Lynn's quilting handiwork.






I'm now on somewhat of the lookout for another inspirational site to copy and make a quilt representation.  I actually saw a cool paved brick design at one of the local libraries. I might have to go take pics and see what I can come up with.

Details:

• Mix of Kona and thrifted solids.
• Previous post on this quilt.
• Quilted by Lynn Peterson.

Omaha Inspired Nephew Quilt

Sometimes a project just takes you over.
It gets you so excited that you can't stop thinking about it.
This is one of those for me.

My nephew, Josh, is a huge architectural preservationist guy.
If you follow him on Instagram, @joshua_biggs, you will see all sorts of cool photos of buildings and building details that he finds in the Omaha, NE area.

A month or so ago he posted this picture from Midtown Omaha


credit

Our instagram convo went something like this.

Josh:  Now that's a wall! #midtownOmaha
Me: That's a quilt wall. #quiltwall
Josh: You are more than welcome to make me that quilt.
Me: That would be an AWESOME quilt for sure.

About a week or two later I was still thinking about this picture, wondering if I could pull this off, without a pattern.  His 25th birthday is coming up in June and after practicing a bit with some of my solid scraps I decided I was going to tackle this quilt wall.

This was going to be my Cherri House City Quilts or Urban Views inspired quilt design.

In progress

I didn't get the points all lined up and decided I didn't care.
This is what happens when you "wing it" on the pattern.
It still looks good and works for what I wanted.


3 columns down and 1 more to go.
Excuse the unpacking and disorganized mess in the background.
We're still working on what we are doing with the basement.

Quilt top done

My 14 yr. old son loves this design.
I am taking that as a good sign that my nephew will too.


And can I just tell you that our screen porch might be my new favorite place to take pictures.  Great natural light and no glare.  Plus there were already some nails in place to hang the quilt.  It was meant to be.

The quilt got sent off this week to Lynn to be quilted.  Emily is going to help with it too so we can get it to him in time for his birthday. All our siblings will be in NE the weekend before his birthday to celebrate early our parents 50th wedding anniversary.  Can't wait for the surprise!!

Notes:

• I bought 1/3 yd. of various solids besides what I already had on hand.
• I had about 18 different colors of fabric--2 shades of yellow, 2 greens, about 4 blues, a couple browns, orange, black, a couple brown shades, purple, some grey.  Pick whatever you'd like.

• I was able to cut 8 triangles out of each 1/3 yd.
• The triangles had a 5" base and were approximately 17 1/2" tall.

Opposites Attract Costume for Couples

My husband and I haven't always done a couples costumes for Halloween.  Most times, in the past, we've just done our own thing.  Which usually translates into I have a costume of some sort and he just shows up in his hunting gear to the party, having just come straight from actually hunting.

Last year we did this and now it seems we have set a precedent for ourselves and an expectation from everyone else to come up with something again this year.  Our original plan A fell through, or at least we weren't able to get it all together in a timely manner, so we'll save it for next year.  (I'm already thinking through it some and will probably hit the thrift store post Halloween to round up the things we need).

Anyway, plan B came about in a long way.  I had the fabric for my dress in my Halloween stash.  I had bought it last year and was going to make some pillows or use it as a tablecloth or something.  I just never did anything with it.  So this year, when I found it again I decided I would see if there was enough to make a dress.  Then I could be a witch or a spider lady of some sort.

I started getting excited about my costume and then hubby was like "well, what am I going to be?"
Hmmm, not sure.  I hadn't really thought about it.
He decided he would be my pet spider at first and then he had a brainstorm.
Be very careful when someone else comes up with a "brilliant" idea that you then have to execute.

When we first met he was selling pest control door-to-door for the summer.
So the new plan B for him was to be an exterminator.
We'd be "opposites attract"--the Spider Lady and the Exterminator.

After all the drama surrounding the costume situation I couldn't say no.




Details:

• Dress based on pattern Butterick 5522.  Just cut the sleeves one piece instead of 2-tone.  Added a back zipper since the pattern is for stretch knits and this fabric is not.
• Glasses from this idea.  I am LOVING these!  They were a hit at the party (although really hard to see out of at night)
• Bought black leggings and gloves.
• You could also make your own and use pattern Butterick 5695
• Coveralls $7.99 thrift store purchase
• "No spiders" sign inspiration from here.  
• Used WonderUnder and fabric to assemble and then topstitched it onto the back of the coveralls.

Can you guess our costumes?

Saturday night was our church Halloween potluck and party.  It is usually a fun time and most everyone dresses up and we all get a kick out of the costumes.  This year one of the men from our congregation set up a photo booth and hubby and I took advantage of it.

Can you guess which movie we represent?

Need another clue?

Hubby's line of the evening:

"My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die."

Therefore, I am The Princess Bride.

Unofficially, because there wasn't actually a contest, we won for best costumes.

All night the adults kept telling us that.

Actually it was hubby who sealed the deal for us.

Spot on rendition of Inigo.

Next year maybe we'll go as Miracle Max and his wife.

That could be fun.

A Glitch & Fleece Gloves

Arrgggghhhhhhhhhhh!

Just as things were going so well with my sewing for myself last night I hit a snag.

This is the throat plate off my serger.

It isn't supposed to be in pieces.

Luckily today was the day for my sewing machine repairman to be at my favorite store.

Went there first thing this morning and he doesn't have one in stock.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

He'll order one but it will take a week.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I have projects that need a serger.  Today!

So then he suggested another sewing place.

Drove a little further than I would have liked.

However, this is when you know you're addicted to your machine.  

I can't wait a week.  

Really, I can't.

Thankfully they had one in stock and $15 later I am on my way.

My whole morning taken up, but I have a new throat plate.

So the project I was hoping to post about this morning will have to wait until tomorrow.

In the meantime here is a little project that I made for hubby over the last week.

 These are last years hunting gloves.

Well loved, well used, and well worn.

I made them a year or two ago--based off another worn out pair of fleece gloves that he adored and couldn't find a decent replacement for.  He asked if I would make him a new pair and then he painstakingly unpicked the beat up pair so that we could have a pattern.  Oh, how he loved those gloves!

I don't know how many pairs I've made since then, but this week I've made 4 new pairs:  2 for hubby, 1 for daughter #1 for when she goes hunting with dad, and another pair for hubby's hunting buddy Eric.

Hopefully this will buy me some time so that I don't have to make another pair for awhile.

And then I went and bought the rest of this remnant fleece to put in the stash so when I do need to make more pairs I already have the fabric ready to go.

Details:

1/2 yd. fleece makes 4 pairs of gloves

$2.00 for fabric.

Putsy sewing for sure--not my favorite things to make, but hubby is happy

Happy 40th birthday Travis

The older of our two brothers is, shall we say, somewhat of a "party pooper".  Its a known fact in the family, but we love him anyway.  So we weren't exactly sure how it would all pan out when we decided we'd  surprise him for his birthday and just show up at his home in Nebraska. (and none of us live remotely close to him by the way)  Even his wife wasn't sure how he'd take it.  Too bad, we decided. We're coming anyway.

And then the craziness began as we put together a hiking/camping theme quilt for him, consulted with siblings and tweaked ideas and plans.  And tried to coordinate the day and arrival at his home--which ended up being Father's Day Sunday. 

Round #1

Our parents (NE), Renae (MN) and family, and Shauna (NE) and family 

show up and wake him up from his nice nap.

Surprise!

Round #2 about an hour later

Emily (UT) and family and Nathan (WY) and family show up.

More surprise!

Including Travis' family we ended up with 30 people at his home.

Leslie and her family were the only ones who didn't come.

But she is very pregnant and feeling pretty yuck.

So here is the front of the quilt we made for him.  3 large bandanna topography maps of a couple parks that he's hiked were the main focus.  And then we just used mostly solids that picked up the colors from those maps to add a little design. 

The back of his quilt is a bit Piet Mondrian.  Basically that translates into "I just winged it" as I was putting strips together and then cutting and turning them to make a different design.  I consulted with my kids and they told me what they liked and didn't like until we came up with the finished backing. The tan areas he can use to document where he's hiked if he wants.

One of the coolest things about this quilt is the actual quilting.  We love Lynn, and we love that she takes our requests and makes the magic happen.  On each end, in order to get the quilt a little longer for his 6'5" body I added a wide border in the green solid--6 or 8" inches.  I can't remember as we were doing this so quickly.

On one end she quilted the saying, "I'd rather be lost in the woods than found in the city."  And the other end reads, "Pavement is overrated, I'd rather be hiking."  Travis loved that part.  And he showed us all on the maps the places where he's been.

We had a fun time and we totally surprised him.

His family did a great job of keeping the secret.

He told his wife, "You got me good."

Happy Birthday Travis!

Notes:
Cut 7" squares and did a disappearing 9 patch design.
Bias tape from the stash to frame in the bandannas.
Ordered the bandanna maps from HERE.

Machine quilted by Lynn Peterson
Linking up to Fabric Tuesday
Finished size:  HUGE (we forgot to measure, but it completely covers his 6'5" frame. And you can see above it takes up almost the entire floor of his living room.)

Camoflauge Zig Zag Quilt for my Hubby

Last year my hubby turned 40 and we, or I should say I, did nothing for him.  Yeah, I know, big time slacker wife.  As I was looking back and trying to figure out why this happened, it turned out that we were in the midst of a massive layoff which started a couple months before his birthday and continued on in a couple months afterward.  We didn't know if we'd have a job and for how long.  It was so stressful.  I had a hard time thinking about throwing a big bash or going away (which is what I really wanted to do) when we weren't sure what was going to happen the next day, literally.

So this quilt is to make up for that somewhat...I hope.

I may be actually making up for this for some time as he had some major surprises for me on my 40th.
And we still need to get away without the kids.

Emily sent me the inspiration link for this quilt--a large chevron pattern.  Cuts quickly and sews up quickly which is what I needed since I had to quickly assemble the top, send it to the quilter in order to get it back to me to be bound and all in time for Father's Day.

I added the green and lighter brown to pick up more of the color within the camoflauge.

I didn't get a chance to wash it before giving it to him, but I have since then and it has softened up nicely.

That Mossy Oak Break-Up fabric was a little stiff.  Like denim or lightweight canvas.

On the back I just pieced a couple strips.

They look "off" in this pic but the wind was blowing some.

Details:

• Cut 10" squares and then cut into HST.
• Sewed 8 blocks across and 9 blocks down.
• No border
• Machine bound with the dark print from the front.
• Machine quilted by Lynn Peterson in meandering pattern.  She actually alternated the meander between zigzags so that you can subtly see the zigzag stripes on the back.

Finished size:
74 inches by 82 inches