Auction T-shirt Quilt

We couldn't stretch it out too much..the wind kept blowing it all over!

 93x93 inches of gloriously stained, stinky (perfume!) and colorful 8th grader t-shirts quilt is done!

Fits a queen bed beautifully with a nice drop of at least 12-18 inches on each side.

Blue minky backing makes it absolutely comfy! 

The picture above was sent along with a few others to the 8th grade parents Friday night.  I wanted to make sure that if they didn't like the idea of a bunch of t-shirts on their bed, they could always just fold it so all the memories were tucked up inside at the end of their bed!

Did I mention how heavy it was?

9 lbs heavy

 How do I know? 

I weighed it!

Why did I want to know?
When you spend 10 hrs on your longarm machine and halfway through, the crank stops working when you want to wind the quilt...it makes you wonder!  

Did I BREAK something?

 As soon as I unpinned the quilt off the leaders, Ole Betsy groaned in relief and the crank was back in action! 

I had to get at least a tiny bit of modern fabric on it, so dotted binding was the flavor of the day. Five hours to bind. Ugh.

The "Carnival" variegated thread by Superior Threads 

(purchased from sewthankful.com) sewn with a "popcorn" pantograph pattern.  Regrets?  I should have used an even larger pattern.  It was very dense, but I couldn't turn back once I realized it!

And I am now very "into" making borders for my printed quilt labels.  I am not sure if anyone else does this, but I always find a poem, if I can, to place on the label.  Especially if it an auction quilt for our school like this one. I also added in the 20th anniversary logo to commemorate the special year!

The only thing that I just didn't expect and want to pass on to you, my quilting friends, is the fact that certain t-shirts had an almost rubbery printing on them.  It was NOT very friendly with the foot of my long arm machine. I had to slow down, stop and go to get it "unstuck".  Sometimes it would even snap the thread.

I can say, however, the Pellon Tricot Stabilizer was AMAZING. 

All 15 yards of it! Yes..I used every single bit of the bolt except for an 18 x24 inch square.  A few asked about it and the one thing I must say is to make sure you read the directions that come with it very thoroughly.  There is a stretch to the tricot and you must make sure when you fuse it to the backs of the t-shirts, you iron it on the opposite direction of the t-shirt stretch.

And you can quote me about the following.

I feel confident that I will make more of these in the future....however, minus about 30 or so of the t-shirts.

Despite all the planning HERE, and all of the trouble Button caused during this adventure.  And thank you for all the encouragement HERE!  I am really happy with it!

 I am anxious to hear how well it did at the auction Saturday night, but it always seems to be a secret!

Are you surprised that I have three or four quilts on my mind and already have my studio closet cleaned up and ready to go for some projects?

I am.

Battle?

I think I just may have won the war!!!!

In case you didn't stop by last week, I have been on a mission to finish one 8th grade Auction T-shirt Quilt by today.

It has gone from Beast to Mammoth!

I started out with a plan to do red in the middle and work my way out to blue, a bit of a rainbow effect.

But the pink threw me off.

So I tried to go random...I didn't even take a picture because it was so awful...the red and blue were such a large amount, that there was not a good way to embrace the random.

I let it sit for a day and did some odds and ends chores in my laundry room. 

I fiddled on EQ7.

  

I then decided that there was enough red and blue t-shirts to make a "border".  Then an inside row of whites and grays.  I then concentrated the very small, but very bold orange, pink, and yellow t-shirts in the center.

At that point I had to concede the battle to the shirts...not to mention Enemy number one:  BUTTON!

 Hands behind his back and one sock off...never a good sign.

TROUBLE!

 He loved to pull the shirts off the design board and try to throw them in the wash.  He is a tricky one, that young one!

I have made progress and have almost completely pieced each row, and the rows together.  

Today's plan is to finish the piecing...

...it is a breeze with the Tricot stabilizer! 

And I plan to have Mammoth on Ole Betsy by late morning/early afternoon.

The binding and backing await....

All other projects...COMPLETELY on hold in the meantime! 

The auction is Saturday!!

Linking up with Lee!

click on image

I just hope that I am alive by Saturday morning.  Check on me, okay?

In the Trenches

My Operation Orders

Task Organization: My mission is to finish one t-shirt auction quilt AKA "the beast" in 7 days with all the firepower I can use.

Taken earlier in the week...not the final layout.

I.  Situation: The school auction is set for the date of the 28th of this month. I have ramped up my due date to the 25th in case there are any diversions from the mission.


A. Enemy Forces
1. Weather and light data: the general forecast is looking good. No new rain in sight.  Could be distracting when any window gazing might occur.
2. Terrain:  Be prepared for piles of toys, dishes in the sink, backpacks on the floor, and shoes in the family room.
3. Identification of enemy forces: Four small males. Highly dangerous with weapons of mass destruction. 
4. Locations: Game room, family room, kitchen, pool, and driveway.  Don't underestimate school or extracurricular activities.
5. Activity: The enemy is in constant attack position.
6. Strength: A small platoon.   Ages 15, 12, 9, and 14 months.  Morale is low due to the absence of father-figure on a business trip.  Capabilities?  Unknown.  They are very inconsistent and can't be trusted. Do not underestimate their capabilities.
7. Probable courses of action when contacted:  They will fight, disperse, retreat, gather themselves, and attack again.


B. Friendly Forces.
Domestic Sewing Machine AKA Symphony.


C. Attachments/Detachments.
One Long Arm Machine AKA Ole Betsy on stand-by.

II. Mission:  

My mission is to finish one t-shirt auction quilt consisting of approximately 70+ t-shirts before the due date. I repeat, finish the t-shirt quilt!


III. Execution
A. Concept of the Operation:  They must be completely cut, pieced, quilted, and bound in 7 days.
B. Task to Maneuver Units: Avoid all distractions such as things like pincushion I made Sunday HERE, that I really don't need.

Cathedral Window Pincushion

C. Tasks to Combat Support Units:  Fellow bloggers and online sewing friends must be on FULL alert in case I am in need of advice.
D. Coordinating Instructions: I will email, beg, and plead for help, if need be.


IV.  Service Support
A. General: Good movies, good music, late nights.
B. Materials and Supplies: Rotary Cutter, Mat, Stabilizer, Thread, Pins, Pantograph, Batting....the usual.

Superior Rainbow Thread from sewthankful.com

C. Medical: Coke, Lemon heads, Laffy Taffies, Short Naps


V. Command and Signal
A. Command: Myself.
B. Signal:  Call sign: Crazy Lady   Code Word: PATCHWORK

Praying the troops can rally me at

 

 If you see any color smoke...please send in reinforcements.

Bumps in the Road

Needless to say, since last Wed, there were a bunch of bumps in the road.

Literally, Bumps..

Bruised head and face scrape from playing basketball with big brothers

The kind of bump that buys you a ticket to the local Children's hospital for a CT scan on a Monday morning.

This after Button had three days of fever.  A lot of tylenol and cuddling Thursday through Saturday.

And then ONE more bump before the night was over on Monday.

Hit the sharp edge of a cabinet in my closet

And Butter turned 15 yesterday.  I threw together some cupcakes.  

A little help from baby brother!

 

Now to plan the party.  Two years ago he didn't have his until July...

 

Needless to say, I didn't get a whole lot done this week!

Finishes:

Dog Bed

Last week I mentioned I didn't have photos of the dog bed project...photos are up on Friday's post!!

Bag Tags

A friend asked for her daughter's volleyball bag embroidered.  After about 2 hours of fighting my hoop...bloody fingers, broken nails...I called her and told her the bad news.  I couldn't do it.

 Funny thing? As we talked about my disappointment, she told me what the problem was..the girls were mixing up their bags at their tournaments.  All of a sudden I had an idea..what about a personalized luggage tag.  She was excited and agreed.

I ran out of plain black cotton a few weeks back and decided to pull out some black Aida cloth I had from my cross-stitch stash.  It ended up stitching very nicely. She reported that her daughter loves it.   Then, her friends loved it so much, they asked me to make about 8 more..so I finished them up yesterday!

Rainbow Layer Cake Swap

I actually sent my fabric ON TIME before the first fever hit!   Excited to get a package back!

In Progress:

Auction T-shirt Quilt

I had a chance to sort them by color and get a better idea.

75 t-shirts in some sort of color piles

All I did was manage to make a mess.  I still want to scan each t-shirt to get it into my EQ7 so I get a better idea of the colors of each graphic on the tees.  I hope it works!! 

Butterfly Kisses

I can't embroider without watching my machine.  To many mistakes happen.  Like the one that I was planning to send Monday?

I forgot a special "title" for the quilt.  I am so glad I caught it before  I mailed it.  

Finish tonight? 

 YES!  NO MATTER WHAT!

No Progress:

Hartley's Quilt (special diamond quilt)

Christmas Quilt

Thank You Quilt

Donation Quilt

Baby Button's Twin Bed Quilt

Linking up with Lee...

 

But I think I might cry when I see everyone's progress!

 

WIP: Wednesday...already?

First off, I love having my kids and husband home on holidays.  But, man, I pay for it the rest of the week!

This week, I am actually surprised that I have a FINISH despite Baby Button's Birthday and Party!  However, to many WIPs and UFOs I could cry...

Finished:

I only have a sneak peek because I haven't edited all the pictures yet.  It was a really fun, easy Sunday project.  Especially because I could delay laundry until Monday!!

A special project for my pugs! 

Stay tuned...I have the pictures on HERE!!

In Progress:

Butterfly Kisses

I  finished the one elaborate blanket last week and am almost finished with the second.  Unfortunately, My basket filled with THREE more this week!

Rainbow Layer Cake Swap

I finally made a decision on my layer cake assignments for my Distant Pickles swap.  Purple and Red-Purple.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find the fabric I really wanted that was there before..and I can't order any online now because I have very little time since I need to mail it out.  The one thing I have learned, is that I really need to check out some of the other local quilt fabrics.  My shop doesn't have the most modern of fabric choices!

  Button was insistent on the stripe.  He kept yelling at me in baby talk and grabbing it from the shelf.  The quilt shop ladies said he was trying to tell me something!  Hopefully, everyone will like my choices?

No Progress:

Christmas quilt.  Hasn't budged.  This one makes me cry.  I think I will force myself to work on it tonight or tomorrow.
Thank you quilt. Fabrics still not cut.
Donation quilt (from Christmas time) Fabrics still not cut.
Baby Button's twin bed quilt.  Design finally decided on.  Fabrics not cut.  I am not even sure the fabrics are going to even work...


New Projects: 

Special baby girl quilt

I was commissioned to make a special quilt so I could include the embroidery prints I do over on Butterfly Kisses. 

I found a quilt on Tracey's blog again.  Hopefully she won't mind!  It just seemed to be the right quilt for this mom that wanted a "girly quilt.

 

The circle will be for the baby's name and feet prints!

 My fabric arrived last week.

Not all of it is for the quilt...I may have gone over my head in regards to my first foray into online fabric buying....

8th Grade Auction T-shirt quilt

Ever wonder what 72 middle school t-shirts look like in a pile?

This HAS to be done by the April.   I already have a plan in mind.  But first I want to scan each t-shirt into my EQ7 to see if my plan is actually a good one!!  Right now?  It looks like it will be AT LEAST a queen size.  Thank goodness for Ole Betsy!

My PhD

 

I was perusing my Facebook.  An ad for Cafepress popped up.

This is what they offer on a T-shirt.

I think someone is trying to tell me something.