I Like it!

Yes I do! The t-shirt quilt is migh-T-fine, if I do say so myself. Not sure what I will do about quilting it, but at least I have something to show at the t-shirt class reunion at Patchwork Cottage on Tuesday (if it is still going to happen).

Never, never again (t-shirt follow up)

Wren Kitty loves the blanket I made for her last weekend. You can see that she is getting quite pudgy. Her one-eyedness is unique, but I am sure most kitties get the ear-turned-back look on occasion.

Mom called today. She wanted to give me advice on the easy way to put my t-shirt quilt together. Something was wrong with my ears after that. I think she said something about multiples of 2 or 3, but it felt like I was under water. The room started spinning. Then it hit me: I could have used this (bleep, bleep, bleep) information 2 days ago! The t-shirt project had already reduced me to tears of frustration. For any other budding quilters out there - IT IS NOT A GOOD IDEA to have every shirt cut to a different size. I was so creative that I even cut the framing strips different sizes: some 1 1/2 inch, some 3 inches and, toward the end, I found I'd cut some 3 1/2 inches (probably because somewhere along the line I remembered about seam allowances. YES, A PLAN IS A GOOD IDEA before you cut.

The picture is how I am leaving it for now. I plan a 1 inch dark blue border followed by a wider border of the red/pink Hawaiian print. But for now I am resting and perhaps finishing some hand quilting. I've earned the rest, and I darn sure need it.

That T-Shirt Thing

Maybe I should have stayed with the pattern from the class. Yes, I should have done that, but now it is too late. I have chopped up every t-shirt I could find in my closet (4), every shirt I bought off E-Bay (5), the one I bought off a website, some donated from school and a dress. I have all kinds and sizes of pieces from shirts ironed onto woven fusible web. I have not come up with a plan yet, but I have been buying indigo batiks thinking I could come with a plan as I went along. Still, nothing, so I am going to start sewing and see what emerges. I am not much for planning anyway. I have been ruminating over my fabric choices; one isn't really a batik, one isn't the same quality of white in the background, etc. I can't think anymore. I am going to slice it up and sew. Unless someone advises me to stop.

Oh, speaking of stop. I stopped husband-person from walking out the door with our old toilet seat in his arms. He was headed to Home Depot and wanted to be sure he got the right size seat. I told him the other day, after I challenged his plan to call a plumber to change out the toilet seat (a do-it-yourself for a child) that it was gross to carry a (used) toilet seat to a store to be sure the size and whiteness (are you kidding me?) matched. Is his memory really that short? I could just do it myself. Really, it is exhausting to supervise husband-person. I have to let most things go. But the toilet seat issue was just too much.

I am encouraged!

I am still playing with the arrangement, and I haven't decided on fabric, but I found a couple more shirts. They were in my closet! What the heck were shirts doing in my closet? I can't find anything in there due to all the shoes.

I think this project will come out just fine, but I have to apologize to Sharon. My first love is accounting, and I cannot resist the allure of ordered columns. I love her pattern, and the class was WONDERFUL!

Last Minute Decision for T-shirt Project

I can't believe that while I was lying in bed ill, my dogs got into my Aunt Millie work basket and ate the kitty circles! Well, chewed them up anyway. HOW THE HECK could they have known they were kitty pictures? At least they did no more damage than that, but it is the darnedest thing!

Well, here I am on the eve of a t-shirt quilt class, and since I have been (still am) quite sick (but not contagious), since I am on all this medicine, I have neglected to think about fabric choices until now. Help, help! I do not have enough of the fabric I originally thought I would use, and I am short of shirts. Take a look at the "make-do" idea I came up with. I think it will work. I have some small shirt prints that I can use to fill in with, since I don't have many shirts. It is not funny, somehow all those printed t-shirts I thought I had disappeared. When I started, I only had four. I had to buy some off E-bay (Chief and Royals) and one from the honor society web-site, and it is turquoise. I thought the color was pretty when I bought it, but it is too late to change it out now. What do you think? I am favoring the tan background, red outer border and black mini stripe for the shirt frames. I may not have enough for the shirt frames, but I am sure the shop (Patchwork Cottage) will have something I can mix in. And thanks a bunch to the commenters (Debbie and Gretchen - check out their blogs) who encouraged me to hang in there with my health and not cancel going to the classes (I am taking machine quilting too). I am really going to enjoy them!

Oh, and these are the iris I cut from my yard. Enjoy!

It's that birthday time of the year

I had lunch with Eron at Ted's Montana Grill in Forsyth County and the food was super-delicious! It was Eron's (29th) birthday lunch; Crit was out of town, so Eron and I walked around The Avenue Forsyth afterwards. I said good-bye to Eron and drove over to the part of the mall that had JJill, but I also discovered 10,000 Villages where I treated myself to the trivet and leather-handled basket in the picture above. I like the store's concept: marketing handmade things from around the world. If you can tell from the picture, the trivet is out of twisted newspaper. They also had some beautiful reverse applique flanged pillow shams that were a nice butterscotch on yellow. Oh yeah, and a mother-of-pearl button covered silk purse to die for. I love the earthiness of their products.
I am pretty sure Wren missed me. I was supposed to stay home and cut fabric all day, since I have two classes next Saturday. I am taking a machine-quilting class (Peggy Barkle) and a T-shirt quilt class, so I will be at the Patchwork Cottage on Sugarloaf all day next Saturday. I will let you know how it goes. I am excited about the machine class because I will be using my own machine. I need to know what I can do with my own machine before making the decision to invest in a new one.