Anniversary Quilt

Remember when I made all those matching tshirts for my family's trip to Disney to celebrate my sister and her husband's 25th wedding anniversary? Well, for Christmas, my sister requested I turn those tshirts into a memory quilt for her and her husband.

Her favorite combo of colors are purple and black, so I used those as the main filler colors and for the backing and binding. She loves this full-sized quilt and it now adorns the bed in her guest bedroom.

Another graduation quilt

This evening I finished another graduation quilt for a recent graduate. This young lady really liked the hand quilted designs on the blocks, and requested a black backing with white thread, so the designs would be more visible.

This quilt's finished size is 76w x 72h, so it's finished cost is $370 + $15 for an embroidered block with name and graduation date, for a total of $385.

Graduation Quilt

Tis graduation season!

I just finished one graduation quilt and have started working on another.

When I sent the picture of the finished quilt to the grad, she responded: "THIS IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. It brings tears to my eyes seeing it and I cant wait to finally cuddle with it. What a special thing I will have for the rest of my life and I cannot thank you enough for all the time and effort you put into making it!"

This is why I love doing this particular craft so much. It really is a meaningful project that I do believe people will keep and cherish for their entire lives.

Front

Back

Since I often get asked about price, I'll start listing the prices of the quilts. This is a finished size of 76 x72 and so it's finished cost is $370.

UPDATE - Here is a picture with the new grad and her quilt:

Memory Quilt

When something unimaginable sad happens, like many people, I never know the right words to say. The experts say all you can really say is "I'm so sorry." But sometimes sorry, just doesn't feel like enough. So when one of Superman's co-workers lost her 6 month old baby to SIDS last summer, and I didn't know how to express just how I felt for that mother, that father, and their darling baby... I offered to make a memory quilt from his baby clothes. This was the most touching sewing project I've ever worked on. I hope I never ever have to make another one.

Update: Here is a picture of Cooper's newborn baby sister, his mom's Rainbow Baby, laying on his quilt.

Note: Through this story, I have learned that siblings born after a SIDS loss are usually called "Rainbow babies." I love this term because it means: a beautiful and bright rainbow follows a storm and gives hope of things getting better. Storm-clouds might still be overhead as the family continue to cope with the loss, but something colorful and bright has emerged from the darkness and misery.

Rock Tshirt Quilt

This post is almost a year late!

Last Christmas, as a surprise present for my husband, I took a bunch of his old concert t-shirts and made a quilt for him. I just realized that I never posted a picture of it!

These aren't nearly all of his concert tees, but these are some of the ones I knew he wouldn't divorce me over cutting up. :)

Front of the rock and roll quilt

Back of the rock and roll quilt

On Christmas morning

Baseball Room

I was looking through some old posts, when I realized that I had post bits and pieces of the boys' baseball bedroom redo last summer (quilt-red, quilt-blue, pillows, coat rack, curtain rods) , but I never posted pictures of the finished product. So I thought it was high time I posted some.

As a reminder, this is what my boys' room looked like before. This is the same fishy/nautical theme they've had since they were newborns.

And this is the updated baseball themed room that we did for their 5th birthday! They LOVE it!

I got the blue black out curtains (it stays light really late in Indiana) on clearance from Walmart.com. I got the posters from Posters.com (and had a 25% your whole order coupon) and the poster frames from Menards. My parents ordered the little red locker-style night stand from Amazon.com. You can't see the alarm clock too well, but it has rainbow colored numbers! I got that from Target. The little lamp is also from Target, but that has since been replaced with a Lillian Vernon baseball lamp from my husband's parents.

We already had the shelves (Menards), but we decorated them some of my husband's old gloves, cleats, and trophies and some of the boys' balls and trophies. What you can't see behind the door is a we hung another old baseball bat and glove, along with and a framed sheet of IU baseball cards (Go Hoosiers!). The wall on the left side of the closet (which you can't see either) is basically a mirror image of the wall on the right, with a shelf on top and filled with double white metal hooks (from Menards) hanging ball caps. (My kids have a lot of ball caps!). I believe we got the baseball piggy bank from Target (or maybe Walmart, I don't remember).

Tshirt Quilt: Hokie Style

A friend's mom recently contacted me asking me to make a tshirt quilt for her youngest son's college graduation. It's a sea of orange and maroon!

Pricing Page

So, I often hear: Oooh, I want you to make me a tshirt quilt. How much do you charge?

But I had been having a hard time coming up with a good answer. So I did a little research...and finally came up with a good answer.


Before I tell you how much I charge, let's examine the time and effort that goes into making a t-shirt quilt:

• cutting out the tshirts (and sometimes ironing if they are wrinkly)
• laying out the proof design
• sewing the quilt top
• sandwiching and pinning the top, batting, and backing
• hand quilting each square
• making the coordinating binding
• sewing on the binding
• optional: shipping

Now let's examine the materials I have to buy:

• batting (I use 100% cotton)
• fabrics for backing and binding
• thread

Not to mention the wear and tear on my machine that requires new needles and visits to the shop for regular maintenance...it adds up.

So, now that you've seen what goes in to what I charge, here is the new formula I will use (instead of my previous formula of $ per shirt): (Length + height) x $2.5

If you want more information, visit my new Pricing page.

The Fighter

One of my closest friend's grandmothers is fighting breast cancer. Over the last few years, my friend has been participating in many events to raise money for cancer research in honor of her grandmother's battle. She told me about a year ago that she was saving tshirts for me to make her grandma a pink ribbon tshirt quilt.

Last week she called me crying. They are stopping chemo.

She had only collected nine tshirts so far (and one slipper and one canvas apron belt), but she couldn't wait anymore...the quilt needed to be made.

Here it is.

In honor of Grandma G.

Mother, Grandmother, Fighter.

Maybe it bring her love, peace, and warmth.

Update: Sadly, my friend's grandma passed away last night. My heart is heavy for her loss.

Homerun!

And the crowd goes wild!

This week, I finished Thing 2's baseball quilt to match his brother's for the impending baseball themed bedroom.

7th inning stretch

I did it!!

It's been almost two months since I first pieced together Thing 1's baseball tshirt quilt, but I finally finished it.

I decided to take a summer class this year, and seeing how I haven't taken a class since my May 2005 graduation, I have felt a little overwhelmed and haven't had much free time to work on my sewing.

But this week I got ahead on my work for my class, and decided to reward myself by busting out the sewing machine.

And the result is one super-sized twin quilt (it is long enough on the sides that I won't be needing bedskirts) in a baseball theme.

I hope it's not another two months before I have the time to finish Thing 2's quilt.

Baby Quilt

If you have some spare time and a half dozen fat quarters laying around, you can make my new favorite baby quilt (Fat Quarter Baby Quilt Tutorial) like the one I made for a beautiful new little girl...

If you make one, you should add a picture of it to their Flickr group.

Also, because the baby girl was born to one of my sorority sisters, I couldn't help but take the opportunity to make this darling onesie to match her quilt.

Update: Here is a picture of baby Avery wearing her XO letters (with my two lovely sorority sisters!).

Batter Up: 2nd Innning

Thing 2's baseball quilt is now all pieced together.

Next step: quilting both quilts.

Warning: this is going to take a while. :)

Batter Up: Update

After seeing the first draft (pre-quilted) version of Thing 1's quilt, Superman insisted I make one addition.

And when I say he insisted, I mean he insisted.

At first, I just thought he was kidding.  But then he made it very clear that he was 100% dead serious.

So I made the addition.

Batter Up!

Most of my craft projects lately seem to be projects I'm doing for somebody else.  Either because they are paying me to do it (Yay!) or because I'm making it as a gift.

So I'm happy to take a break and work on a project for me (well, really for my kids, but still...).

My twin sons will be turning 5 in June.  And their room is still decorated using the theme we chose for their nursery.

We have finally decided the time has come to update their room to a little more mature theme.  We (with their help) chose: baseball.

A few months ago, I started looking for baseball linens for their bed, but I was disappointed that I could only find either a specific team or general sports together (baseball, basketball and football).  But I wanted something that was just general baseball.

It was also around this time that I started making t-shirt quilts.  So Superman, being the brainiac he is, suggested I make them t-shirt quilts using all baseball shirts.

Ding-ding-ding!

I started by raiding his closet.  Then surveying shirts that Thing 1 and Thing 2 had almost outgrown (unfortunately I'd already given away all of their smaller size shirts).  Then, I hit up our local Goodwills.  Multiple times.

And finally, I had enough t-shirts to make two twin size quilts.  So this past week, after I finished Laya's quilt, I started cutting and laying out both quilts.

So far I have only sewn together the top for Thing 1's quilt:

Next I will work on Thing 2s.

And then, my favorite (for creativity) and least favorite (time-consuming) step: quilting.

Baby Quilt: Laya

One of my best friends from college just welcomed his first child... a little girl.

This lovely baby quilt is going all the way to India to hug her for me.