An Attorney quilt

 Under the heading of It's a Small World, I had to give a deposition at work where the attorney representing my company was also the boss of a long time quilter friend.  And it was also a company that I used to work on their audit 20 years ago when I was a public accountant.  Fast forward 10 years and now the quilting friend is retiring and was asked the by attorney if she would make him a T-shirt quilt.  But since she was in the process of moving out of town she referred him to me.  She dropped the quilts off at my house on her way to her new home. I was able to include all the shirts but it is a big quilt.  

I mailed the quilt and emailed the attorney the total cost along with a picture of the completed quilt.  The next day he calls me and asks if I've already mailed the quilt.  Hmmmm, yes, why?  Well he actually didn't want me to include the shirts with his name as he was going to donate it to the company as a fund raiser, how hard would it be to take those two out?  Well even if I hadn't mailed it the effort to remove those shirts or cover over his name would have been enormous, really can't do it, please don't mail it back to me.  Well he calls me back after he received the quilt and tells me thank you for putting in the shirts with his name, it gave him an excuse to keep it and he loves it so much he wouldn't want to part with it.  Another happy quilt owner!

Graduation quilt

Made for a church senior graduating this year (2020), in the strangeness of quarantine.  They dropped off the shirts on the porch in March and we waved through the window, then I mailed it back as the family has moved out of town.  But they are happy and that is what matters.  I used the floating block pattern just to add some interest - I think it goes well with the theater shirts, looks kind of like notices on a wall.

        Love the smiling face!  Good luck at TWU Titus!

Losing Track

I've tried over the years to keep a list of the I spy & t-shirt quilts I've made (in excel of course).  I also note the blog post & date, to try and keep the blogs current too.  When I first started quilted I could remember every quilt, who it went to, where I purchased the fabric, etc.  But those days are long gone so a list does help me keep track.  There are several I spy quilts that I just don't remember where they went, but I'm sure some child somewhere is enjoying them (though they are likely grown now).  Periodically I realize I've been so busy sewing I've completely forgotten to update the list or the blog.  Going back through the photos on my camera is the only way  to figure out what I've missed.

These last two should catch me up on T-shirt quilts.

 I've started making some work quilts for people who have been there a LONG time (some over 25 years).  I made 2 virtually identical for 2 ladies who have worked together for 20 years.

Fireworks Quilt

This most recent T-shirt quilt was made for a co-worker whose family runs a fireworks business.  Her son came up with the idea of a t-shirt quilt for his father, made from various firework related shirts gathered over the years of their business, attending annual trade shows and other related events.  It also includes some shirts from their business.  Because I was trying to get in a lot of shirts, it did get LONG.

We searched through the various firework related fabrics for something to use in the sashing, and decided on a scatter print of small sparkers (that do sparkle).   and the backing is a sunny bright yellow that is the same color as the shirts their employees wear.

I even got out of my comfort zone and stitched freehand stars for the quilting. I decided trying to do actual fireworks would just look like dandelions or worse.  Several years ago I read in a quilting book that any freehand motif looks better doubled, so I tried it and I'm pretty pleased with it. I also tried another method of joining the fleece.  I had been reluctant to sew the pieces together like normal quilting cotton because I knew you couldn't iron the seams open.  I was worried about them not laying flat, so I used a glue stick to hold the seams down during quilting.  Worked like a charm.

But this is the best part.  The son & father came to my office and I got to give it to them in person.  They were thrilled.  The best job.

Two Commissions and throw in a bonus

With the recent comfort quilt, two commission quilts and getting a head start on the next fund raiser quilt, I've made 4 T-shirt quilts in the last 2 months.  The system is working well and everyone seems happy with the quilts, and I'm getting faster at the process.  All good.  I do wish I could locate extra wide fleece, piecing the fleece is a pain, but I almost always have enough shirts that the 60" just isn't wide enough.  Maybe my next post will be how I splice fleece.

Lots of quilts lately and a new way to press

Not sure how, but I've ended up making 4 quilts in the last 2 months.  I'm getting pretty quick at these now.  I have a system of course (accountants love systems).  Over the years I've developed a production line method to fuse woven interfacing to the back of the t-shirts.  I precut all the shirts to the same width using Karen Kay Buckley's perfect adjustable square ruler set.  It is perfect for trimming t-shirts.  Generally I start 15.5" wide and what ever length the design is.  I lay them out face down with no spaces between them on my two large ironing boards

I have already precut the interfacing to my standard width and rolled it with the fusible side on the outside.  So now I can easily unroll the interfacing across them all and get it all smooth and ready to fuse. (Note, I don't typically use black interfacing but the store was out of white and I needed more quickly.)

Using 4 different irons with extension cords running to different rooms so that I don't blow any fuses (I know, I know, electrical hazard) I start alternately moving one iron after the other across the section of interfacing.  It's tricky because the irons are wedge shaped so I have to pay attention and make sure I've covered everything.  Once fused I roll that section up and lay down the next.  When all are fused I trim them down to 14.5 wide and I'm ready to add the sashing.

Since I seem to be doing so many of these quilts now, I thought perhaps I would invest in a heat press.  But geesh they are so big and heavy and you pretty much need a permanent place to store them.  And I just wasn't sure I wanted to abandon my production line method.  Hmm, I decided ease of storage was a priority for me.  I do make a lot of t-shirt quilts but not so many that I wanted to take up a significant space on the counter.  But I discovered a compromise, the Cricut Easy Press.  And I am in love!  It is basically a 9" square iron with a timer and a temperature gauge.  Ha, no more counting.  I loved the first one so much I got a 2nd one. It was so much fun just walking them evenly down the row.

No more weird iron shaped sections since they are square, no more spurting rusty water.  I did discover a damp pressing cloth worked better than just spraying the back of the interfacing,   Also discovered that since the heat is more even, a couple of the shirt designs got too hot and stuck to my ironing surface (yikes), so I cut the time back to 10 seconds.  The pressing cloth helped with that too.  And look how cute they are, stored away in my fruit crates under my long arm table.  A perfect fit, sitting in the heat proof stands.  They are pretty great for smoothing out yardage too.

It definitely made this step in the process much faster and more enjoyable.  I timed the last quilt I made and it was right at 12 hours from start to finished binding.  Bring on more T-shirt quilts!

Comfort Quilt for Coworker

Recently a long-time coworker has been faced with some health issues.  I had some extra t-shirts around, also asked for some donations and received several more.  I brought 4 of the blocks to work and had people sign well wishes.  And here is the finished quilt.  The backing is nice "drapy" fleece and so it turned out pretty soft.  I've discovered the backing has a lot to do with how nicely (or not nicely) a t-shirt quilt drapes.  Hopefully the signatures will last, we used a .08 Pigma pen and I heat set them.

Edited to add the thank you note

Omg I love this quilt so much!! Happy tears it came at the perfect time! I been depressed since Sunday! So sick of cancer and all the side effects I deal with daily! It truly made me so happy! I know God is good! I stay in prayer I need to beat cancer! 💪🏻Be on the look out for a Thank you note I will be sending to thank everyone! Please tell everyone I truly appreciate the love and kindness that was put into the quilt 💙 I will do chemo again in 2 weeks and will use this every time to remind of yalls kindness! I miss y'all more than you know! Much love to everyone💕💕💕💕John loves it too