Addy's Clothes, Year One

Addison Ryan turned one year old yesterday.  The party is this weekend, and I have her present done!  I had asked her mom to save her first year's baby clothes, and I would make her a quilt for her first birthday.  I have made several tee shirt quilts for family and friends, and the recipients always love them.  What's not to love?  Your favorite soft tees backed by a  microfleece blanket - cozy!  So, 28 little pieces of clothing were given to me.  Sounds like plenty, right?  Well, those little tiny onesies and jammies don't give up too much usable fabric!  I managed to get a 6" square out of all of them, and some yielded two.  To make the quilt a bit bigger, I got some 6" x 3" pieces out of arms and legs.  The little sleeper I stitched on the back was the outfit Addy came home in.  The label is on a piece of a shirt with the original pink stitched cuff.  I left the snaps operable on the sleeper so that Addy could hide little soft toys in there.  The whole thing is about 45" square, just the right size to drag around the house.  She will have fun in the future hearing about all her clothes she wore as a baby.  Wouldn't it be cool to have a quilt each year on your birthday made from clothes/tees from the previous year?  Jerilynn

Tee Shirt Quilt Complete!

At the Lake House this weekend we celebrated the birthday of Mike, Ellen's boyfriend, and the graduation of Courtney. And, wonders of wonders, I got Courtney'tee shirt quilt done! After the pinning of the quilt (scroll back to past posts...I am too tired to put a link in) I did a meander free motion quilting over the top. I tried to go over every block intersection because those spots are a little thicker and I wanted to make sure they would be flat. I then trimmed the fleece blanket about 2 inches bigger all around, brought the edges to the front, turned under twice, and zig-zagged into place. Didn't take long at all. Now, remember, there is no batting or interfacing, so the quilt is very soft and cuddly. My daughter-in-law, Sarah, is a middle school teacher and her principal is retiring this year. She asked if I had any ideas for a good gift for this lady. I suggested a tee shirt quilt! She has a few school printed shirts, and she is going to ask other teachers for some. Won't this be a great idea? It has been fun to see family, friends, and neighbors this weekend, and also it has been good to rest from projects. Next week more wood is coming to nail on the walls and ceilings...I am thinking soon Carl will be starting to work on the studio...EEEEK. Jerilynn

All Pinned!

I found a greyish, very soft, microfiber blanket at Shopko today. The twin size worked well for the size of quilt I am making. I set up two big white tables, side by side, smoothed out the blanket, and then smoothed the pieced tee-shirts on top. Remember, no batting! I pinned each square with about 15 safety pins. I don't close them - I just carefully transport to my sewing machine and removed them as I come to them while stitching. Saves a bit of time and saves wear and tear on my fingers. I think I will use a medium grey thread and do a big meander over the whole quilt. I probably won't get to quilt much on this until next week, but as soon as I do another step, you will be the first to know! Jerilynn

The Next Few Steps in the Tee Shirt Quilt Journey

Greetings from The Red Chair. I had a chance to do some sewing tonight! The tee shirt blocks were all cut out and I thought I would quickly serge them together. It took a little less than an hour to finish that step. No interfacing, no pressing. Fast. Less expensive than buying an interfacing for the back of all the blocks. And also very soft - just the well-loved tees! The top picture shows what happens if you serge two blocks together, or what would happen if you just sew two soft knit blocks together - they ruffle. The second picture shows what it is supposed to look like after you use the differential feed on your serger. This feeds both the top layer and the bottom layer through at the same time. Nice and flat. Just pick up the tee shirt squares in rows and serge them together - no pins, just hold in place. Once the rows are done, sew the rows together, turning the seam in opposite directions so the seam matches up. I then serged all around the outside edges to keep everything from stretching. Next step is to buy a nice, soft, microfiber blanket to use for the back. No batting, just the soft tees and the soft blanket. You can see why these quilts are perfect for cuddling! Thanks to a blog commenter, I rescued unused parts of the tees from the garbage and serged around the edges. Now Courtney will have a few nice rags when she sets up her first apartment. All in all, a very inexpensive project that the recipient will cherish. Jerilynn

I Will Take You on a Tee Shirt Quilt Journey

Our oldest grandchild, Courtney, is graduating from high school this year. She was informed a few years ago to collect memorable tee shirts that she would like to keep as a quilt keepsake. I received several shirts (top photo), with instructions if the preferred image was just on the front, the back, or both sides. I decided to cut them out using a 13.5" measurement. Courtney requested a 4 x 6 layout, which should yield a 52" x 78" quilt. What I am going to do is show you step by step how I am going to do this. The first picture is the stack of shirts that Courtney sent me. Some of her shirts were a bit small, but we made it work. Then I laid them out, wonky style, on the floor. I will check color placement tomorrow, then serge them together with differential feed to prevent puckering. I will tell you the next step in another post. Tomorrow I move my dad from the assisted living back to their condo. I will be a bit busy and stressed. Good luck to me on having a good blog post tomorrow. Jerilynn