School Teacher Retirement {Memory Quilt}

" A teacher takes a hand, opens a mind, and touches a heart". 

I was recently asked by one of my boy's school to make a memory quilt for a teacher that was retiring this year.  My schedule was really, really tight, but when I heard that she had been teaching second grade there for 43 years?
I knew I had to make it happen.

Photo cred: School FB site

The staff gathered up some old tshirts and some plaid skirts from the uniform closet. 

I took a short time to make a plan and decided on relying on an old memory quilt book by Better Home and Gardens. It seemed to fit the number of t-shirts there were and a way to incorporate the plaid in the sashing, but without overwhelming it.

The one tweak I made was extending the outer stars into the border.

It was also requested that I make an embroidered block with her name and dates.

 Omni Navy by Superior threads in a floral free motion quilting seemed the "right" choice. 

Navy minky backing by Shannon Fabrics. It has become somewhat of a standard for my memory quilts. I usually hear "I love how soft the back is!"
 And the bright green binding for pop!

A printed quilt label with remnant scraps of plaid. The bible quote is from the school handbook. 

I was so excited to see that she loved it when she opened it at her retirement party.

Photo cred:  School FB site

Such a happy recipient!

Quilt Stats
Measures: Approx 50"x 50"
Pattern: Remember When from BHG Memory Quilt book
Fabric: Kona Solid Navy, Kona Kelly Green, Shannon Fabrics Navy Cuddle
Thread: Omni Thread Navy Blue by Superior Threads
Quilted: Free motion flowers on HQ Avante


Whenever I finish them, I'm always resigned in the fact that I don't particularly love making them, but I sure do love the response from the recipients, and it makes it all worth it!

Strake Jesuit Personalized {T-shirt Quilt}

The second commissioned quilt for Christmas was this Strake Jesuit College Preparatory quilt.   My oldest son graduated from there and I had made a smaller lap quilt for a friend whose son graduated (and happened to be the Valedictorian) along with my son.  An acquaintance saw it and had to have it for her son who has graduated there also.

This one was tricky because, again, she wanted a queen size and originally had sent me enough to only get 14 blocks. 

We finally agreed on a Kona Green sashing design with a stripe with his name appliqued on Kona Gray that she liked.  She also sent me some more of his cross country shirts to mix in.

I love working with minky backings for t-shirt quilt.  I feel like it contradicts the scratchy or rubbery screenprintins on the front and make a nice balance.

I also went with simple meandering in gray thread.  And a Kona Gray binding to tie in the gray stripe in the front.

Quilt Stats:

Size: 89" x 92"

Pattern: Custom by myself

Fabric: Kona Solids, Shannon Fabrics Olive Minky

Quilting: Longarm Meander

Notre Dame-Michigan Game Day {T-shirt Quilt}

I was commissioned to make a T-shirt Quilt that include only Notre Dame vs Michigan Game T-shirts.  I have to admit, this Marquette University alum girl twinged just a tad, but I powered through!  She requested a queen and with only about enough t-shirt logos to make 14 blocks, I knew I had to put my thinking cap on.

My original mockup

 I remembered that a friend had asked me to work up an estimate for a simple Notre Dame logo and I worked the math to fit it in the center for this one.
I surrounded it by the t-shirt blocks and then added a gold border to frame it all.  

The fabric choices are very mottled solids gave the quilt some depth.

And, as always, I back my t-shirt quilts with minky, this one was Shannon Fabrics Navy.  Quilted it on Ole Besty Longarm with a large meandering and bound it with the gold fabric by Moda to mimic a second "frame".

It was a big hit for Christmas! 

Quilt Stats:

Size: 89" x 92"

Pattern: Custom by myself

Fabric: Riley Blake Basics Shades, 

Moda Fabrics Collection for a Cause: Love, Shannon Fabrics Navy Minky

Quilting: Longarm Meander

Simple Blocks {Memory Quilt}

This is a simple block memory quilt I was commissoned to make for a friend.   She asked me to do it when things were just, frankly, crazy.  We were packing to move.  I was managing Senior Prom and a High School graduation, and an 8th grade graduation.  And a 13 year old's birthday party.  Not to mention there were quilts that had to be made!!   So I think that I have a pretty valid excuse that I only have photos that she and I took on our phones!

I actually had some really cool plans, but financially and just expediency took over and we both decided on just simple blocks.  I didn't want to separate the fronts and backs of his important All-State and Champion t-shirts, so I decided that two rows of color with the whites at the top and bottom would be cool.  Looking back?  I wish I had done some sort of sashing.  But that's neither here nor there now!

I chose the school color green in minky for his backing and their secondary navy color for the binding.  You can get a glimpse of the vareigated green I used on the entire quilt in a cool square meandering pattern.

Quilt Stats:

Measures: 56" x 70"

Pattern: Simple blocks

Fabric: Kona Navy Blue and Shannon Fabrics Green Cuddle

Quilted: Square Meandering with Superior Threads So Fine Variegated Green on HQ Avante

All that matters is that he got his quilt by graduation ON TIME, right??

Class of 2015 Auction {Quilt}

Graduation time is coming up soon!

Every year the 8th graders that want to participate are asked to turn in t-shirts that have meaning to them so that they can be made into a t-shirt quilt for the school auction.

Sometimes they are shirts from their past.  

Some give you a glimpse into their possible future.

 Some tout their favorite sports team. 

 Some are their jerseys they wore for their sports teams.  

Some can just be shirts that they happened to wear to every single "free dress" day.

And best of all? Some say "THIS IS ME".

After careful thought, a layout is chosen.  This year it was happenstance that were put in a "rainbow" sort of order.  Normally there is a plethora of school t-shirts that seem to be blue and red like the school colors, but this year the students seemed to have a fantastic range of color that just couldn't be ignored.  

The center features the front and back of their 8th grade shirt.  This year's theme "Captains of the School"

Each t-shirt is backed by a stabilizer, then pieced together.  Quilted with Rainbow Superior Thread with an organically moving rectangle/square free motion quilting on my longarm.

A variegated thread color called Tapestry.  Much like its name, it weaves throughout very well making the colors of the t-shirts sing and tell their individual stories.

Backing is gray dotted minky.  Very soft and snuggly!

Binding is a stripe that picks up so many of the colors in the quilt itself.

It was a pleasure to work on the quilt this year as our second son graduates and prepares for a new chapter in his life.  It is the 10th Auction quilt (sometimes two in one year like this year) and the 2nd T-shirt quilt I have lovingly dedicated my time on for the school in the past 11 years along with countless other sewing projects like prayer table cloths, tote bags, rosary bags, and Christmas program costumes. 

 It was bittersweet because we are moving from the area this summer and leaving behind a very beloved school.  A place that has nurtured and supported our sons through such an important time of their lives. 

Happy Graduation Class of 2015!