Progressing Around the Block

I finished all the O-blocks for Trip Around the Block. Here are the latest ones, laid out like Mini Trips Around the World.

These blocks are set like a Mini Trip Around the World, but they are just half the blocks I'll use.

Fret not; enjoy the day. Ann

A Quilt of Baby Clothes

Look what my sister made! A friend wanted to display her daughter's baby clothes so my sister made this wall-hanging. She framed the t-shirts squares to set them off and sewed some headbands on, too. Then she very cleverly appliqued the cutest outfits on the quilt, hand tacking the skirts to add dimension.

Baby Clothes quilt by my wonderful sister

And she added Texas Mink in pink. I snapped this photo at the quilt show last year and just found it again. 

Congratulations, Sis!

Ann

Model T... T-Shirt, That Is

T-shirt quilts are highly individual but here's my basic plan, subject to all types of variation. A three by four grid of twelve-inch blocks with 3-inch sashing and a 4.5 inch border finishes 57 inches by 72 inches. I like wide sashing for three reasons: it adds color, it allows room for part-pieced/part-appliqued blocks and it gives more placement options for small applique pieces.

University of Texas Delta Gamma t-shirt quilt

• The sashing needs 31 rectangles cut 3.5" by 12.5". I buy 1.25 yards.
• There are 20 posts cut 3.5" square. I buy a quarter yard or a fat quarter.

The sashing can be wider or narrower. Sashing on the pastel quilt in the Texas Mink post is much wider to include an entire bird while that on the Grumpy Cupid is slightly narrower (the width of one repeat.) Changing the size of the t-shirt blocks also changes the length of the sashing.

Borders with Texas Mink are 4.5" wide. Since the Mink covers the underlying fabric a pieced, un-mitered border will not be noticed. I buy 1.25 yards and cut seven strips the width of the 40" fabric. If you use a stripe or you don't want the lengths pieced you will need to buy more.

Default layout of t-shirt quilt. Border is not this wide.

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann

More Trips Around the Block

Here are the blocks I finished yesterday. Just a few more to make.

O blocks for Trips Around the Block

Ann

Scrappy Trip Quilted

Quilting this little Scrappy Trip was very easy once I had batting. Diagonal quilting with grey thread in the center, stippling with white thread in the lightest areas around the diamonds and spirals on the outer border in dark green thread. I posted a tutorial for the diamond border here. Although the quilt still needs blocking you can see how this method of calculating the length for the borders keeps the quilt nicely squared. Any waviness from bias edges in the middle border is easily quilted out.

Scrappy Trip Around the World quilted

View of all four corners.

Scrappy Trip Around the World quilt view of all four corners

The loop in the upper right-hand corner was suggested by +Joanne Goranson a few months ago. A child's finger can fit in it so they can cuddle or drag their quilt around. Next time I'll sew the loop ends farther apart.

Loop detail

The back is the last of these light green prints. The plaid is an older Riley Blake fabric. The diamond scraps made a fun central stripe.

Scrappy Trip Around the World quilt back uses leftover strips

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann

Steam Punk To-Be

OK, "The Plan" this year is to sort-finish-reconsider everything. Throughout the house; not just quilting. Scrappy Trips used up strips and scraps I already had. In the reconsidering category is adding white and making blocks with curves and diamonds. I have done both but not in quite a while.

I was contemplating various curved piece blocks when several quilters began posting Steam Punk blocks in such interesting fabrics. Stripes, plaids, large scale prints, conversation prints! Badskirt and Gone Aussie Quilting were some of the first I found. Reading Jeannette's blog led to the Steam Punk Quilt Along. More wonderful fabric combinations for this block. The quilt along started five or six months ago (definitely too late to join) until I read: "This is a no pressure, no time frame quilt along for those who would like to join in and share their progress." I gave in, joined up and ordered the pattern from Amitie Textiles.

I should have waited to order it because two quilts are still in progress and there's that "finish" part of the plan. My consolation was that it would surely take two or three weeks to get here from Australia. Wrong-o. It arrived in a week - faster than some items I've ordered in the States. So I'm drooling on the pattern as I quilt. At least it's a good carrot!

A Modern Robe

I bought the Modern Robe pattern at The Cotton Patch in Lafayette, CA, recently to make this Alexander Henry fabric I'd been hoarding for ages. The pattern is kimono style except for the pockets. Three changes: I added the green chevron fabric on the tie ends rather than the entire belt, made belt loops and fully lined the sleeves.

Modern Robe pattern in Alexander Henry fabric

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann

Trips Around the Block

There's a Trip Around the World pattern; several small ones are Mini-Trips. I named this two block combination Trips Around the Block.

Trip Around the Block, X and O block layout

While I'm very pleased with the color choices in Scrappy Trips, I had intended to include more light values. I decided to make some Mini-Trips to experiment with that idea. O's only didn't have the strong diagonal; however, there is an interesting secondary trip where the blocks meet that could be square or oblong.

This is a Mini-Trip since it's made of O blocks only. 

The design improved with an alternate X block but was still too static since each X contained only four fabrics. I want to use more fabrics and draw the eye around with value. I've decided to make the O's first. As more are completed, it's easier to vary the layout and number of fabrics. Then I'll make X's. Some of the original blocks will be reworked; you can see where I've pinned replacement squares. It takes longer but I'm not in a hurry.

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann

Vintage Lone Star

My paternal grandmother, Martha, made this quilt in the 1920's. The pieces are so evenly cut it may have been a kit. It was on my parent's bed for years.

Lone Star

Unfortunately, the fabric is giving out. I'm more accustomed to fabric wearing out at a certain color first, probably from the metallics in the dye. This one is odd; it looks like it's been sliced with a rotary cutter every quarter inch along the weft of each piece in the top. I'm just glad my parents used and enjoyed this quilt.

Lone Star Center

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann

Postage Stamp Quilt

Scrappy Trip was ready for quilting but there were only king-size batts in the closet. So I chose to first finish this Postage Stamp top I made several years ago and then use the leftover batting for the Trip.

Postage Stamp top

It's made of 2.5 inch strips, about half of them are batik. You can tell I used every scrap; some of the squares are pieced in order to have enough for the quilt. Quilted with grey 50/2 cotton Aurifil, backed with an older Northcott stripe I had on hand. Mountain Mist Cotton Blossom (a cotton/silk blend) batt.

The center is a simple diagonal grid but the batik stripe in the border needed something different. For that section, I used Leah Day's Pebbles in a Stream but quilted at a larger scale more in keeping with the rest of the quilt.

Pebbles in a Stream

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann

Virginia Reel

Virginia Reel was a gift last year to a new grandmother. I traded the blocks with Houston friends several years ago intending to alternate them with another pattern such as Hourglass. (The border pieces were originally cut for the hourglass block.) But none the layouts looked right and the blocks were hidden away. When they resurfaced the quilt flowed easily. It just needed the right occasion.

This quilt is made of madras plaids, stripes and florals. I remember we had trouble getting the blocks to size correctly. They were uniform but slightly smaller than the mathematical measurement indicated. It would be a good candidate for paper piecing.

Virginia Reel for Marilyn

I learned a lot from this trade. The center block with yellow taught me that fabrics within a block don't need to match. The pink and blue block on the left side taught me fabrics can match too much. 

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann

Fill 'er Up: What to Add to a T-Shirt Quilt

T-shirts collections are scrapbooks of our past. The shirts spark memories - reminders of friendships and happy, meaningful occasions. The best loved, most significant t-shirts are the most used so they may be the most faded. I think t-shirt quilts look better with sashing and "full" blocks. Lovely new sashing fabric pumps color into the quilt and freshens the shirts.

Full blocks are also easy to achieve. Create a collage with a variety of shirts but don't forget the cutouts, stickers, ribbons and fancy paper that sets off photos in a lovely scrapbook. How does that translate into fabric?

     1. Logos
Collect all the pocket, sleeve and collar logos leaving lots of blank t-shirt around them. Iron a generous amount of non-woven fusible interfacing to the back of all knit fabrics. Ask the recipient for favorite or meaningful shapes. For example, most fraternities and sororities have symbols such as kites, keys or stars. Create a significant shape and use it cut the smaller logos. Alternatively just cut around the logo. Or frame the logo with ribbon or fabric to really set it off. Then scatter them decoratively across the quilt surface.

     2. Photos
Scan a photo onto fabric. Create a picture frame with colorful fabric and applique it to the quilt.

     3. Conversational fabric
There are fabrics for every sport, pet, musical instrument, food, method of travel, etc. If you know their interests, add them with a snippet of special fabric.

     4. Stuffed dolls or bears
This doll rests inside a shirt pocket. A ribbon with a snap keeps the doll on the quilt but allows removal for washing.

     5. Varsity letters, team patches, dance costumes, ball caps
Check Pretty in Pink and Writing with Thread. Carefully unstitch the letters and honor patches on a letter jacket. Add them to the quilt top. Zig-zag or blanket stitch with a regular or quilting thread (40-50 weight) to ensure they stay on. Quilt around these thick items, not over them.

     6. Practice shorts, boarding shorts, preschool shirt, swimsuit
Who'd have thought? You must plan ahead with something that will fill most of a block. Pick a plainer t-shirt like this and cut it with more space above or below the logo to allow room to add the shorts without covering interesting designs on the shirt. Cut the shorts in half; pin to the top; pin a very generous seam allowance. Go back and increase the seam allowance of the shorts. When you reach the point where shorts look ridiculous, let the seam allowance out a bit. Clothing wraps a three-dimensional figure and you're reducing it to two-dimensions. Believe me, she'll thank you!

     7. Award ribbons
Despite encouraging people to use anything on a quilt, I am very wary of using award ribbons. They are usually printed on acetate and do not hold up well in the wash. If you choose to add them, make them removable like the doll above.

I'd love to see what you create.

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann

Where Not to Quilt a T-shirt

Sometimes colors are printed into the fabric and these can be quilted without problems. Other times the design is stamped on with a rubbery substance. Do NOT quilt over this. The needle hole may cause the design to peel off the shirt. Just quilt as close to the design as possible. The top left block, the rose love, and the "theta to the rescue" blocks are examples of shirts handled in this manner. 

Baylor University Theta

There may be other areas too heavy to quilt through. This young woman had a football jersey shirt  and a sweatshirt with her sorority letters in heavy fabric (bottom left and top right.) Notice they are added to the quilt but only quilted up to the lettering.

Because of large, irregular unquilted areas, I prefer an 80-20 (cotton/polyester ratio) batt for t-shirt quilts. I use regular sewing cotton thread (40-50 weight) or nylon monofilament. I think a size 80/12 or 90/14 universal needle works best on this combination of knit and woven materials.

I linked up with the Free Motion Quilting project.

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann