It's been a long time

 I haven't posted in this blog in so long! But just because I haven't been posting doesn't mean I haven't been crafting!

In fact, I've made several t-shirt quilts this summer.

My husband's colleague and long time friend retired last year. He has always admired my husband's tshirt quilt made out of old rock concert tees, so I offered to make him his own tshirt quilt as a retirement present. He chose to use an assortment of 5K tshirts from when he used to be an avid runner. He didn't have a lot of tees, but he had enough for a small lap blanket.

Most of these shirts were from the early 80s! This is what I love about making tshirt quilts! You get to move all of these old mementos from out of a box where you NEVER look at them and bring them out into your every day life! And the method I use for making quilts (where each block is free-hand quilted) helps to preserve the old jersey material that often becomes very thin over a lifetime of wear and washing. (As opposed to the blocky tshirt quilt style that usually only sews the top together and then attaches the top of the quilt to the back using yarn knots in the corners of each square.)

Another tshirt quilt I made recently was for a man who collects Hard Rock tshirts. Hard Rock tees are really great for tshirt quilts because their designs are often nice and big and very colorful! Plus, many Hard Rock tees have both big designs on the back, and mini designs on the upper left chest. Plus, their long sleeve style tees often include yet another design on the sleeve!

This is yet another reason why I prefer this style of making tshirt quilts over the blocky kind I've seen... those quilts only use designs that fit into the big square! Where my style of making tshirt quilts incorporates any and all design from the shirt into the quilt. Of course my style also takes more time and more skill, which is why it also costs more. (I've seen the block style quilt advertised on Groupon for $99!) But I obviously prefer my style! I prefer both how it incorporates more design of the shirt, protects and preserves the jersey material more, and I think it is just more interesting and aesthetically pleasing to look at!

The last one is another lap blanket. This is a sentimental one for me. 10 years ago my high school sweetheart, with whom I was still very good friends, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly, leaving behind a wife and a young daughter. I offered to make a memory quilt for her/their daughter out of some of his old shirts. I kept offering for a decade, and she finally took me up on the offer. 

Every year since he passed, his friends and family gather around the time of his birthday for an event they call Pattyfest, where they celebrate the way too short, but excellent life, of our friend, brother, son, uncle, cousin, husband, and dad. This shirt was made out of 10 years worth of Pattyfest tshirts! I always feel honored when this little hobby/side hustle of mine is able to bring such joy and happiness to someone who has lost a loved one.

There have been many more quilts since my last post in 2015! But I don't always get pictures of them. (I'm terrible at that!) So these are just a few of the ones that I actually managed to get pictures of. I hope you enjoy them!