A T-shirt Quilt for Carl's Niece

Finished quilt

     After I made a t-shirt quilt for Carl, who won it in a raffle at The Fitness Pursuit, he asked me to make one for his niece.  She will be graduating form high school this year.

Pile of t-shirts

     He gave me a bag of t-shirts, some with notes attached, asking to use both front and back or just the back of one.  One of the t-shirts was a small toddler size.  I was able to use the back of the shirt to add pieces to either side so I could cut my 12-1/2" block.  One other shirt needed some added to the sleeve area as is was a sleeveless top.  And on one other block I combined the front and the back to make one block.

Label with blanket stitched edge

     He also wanted 'Class of 2017' embroidered on the back.  I told him that stitched lettering tends to sink into fleece.  I recommended I do a label instead.  Very fortunately, one of the t-shirts was red so I used part of it to make the label.  Because it was a knit, I did not turn under the edges because it won't ravel.  I used a blanket stitch to stitch it to the backing.

Front pinned to the fleece backing

     I then laid the backing on the floor with the right side up.  I carefully placed the pieced top on so that the label was near the edges but not too close.  I pinned all around and trimmed the fleece to size.  I stitched around, leaving an opening to turn.  Then after turning it right side out I stitched close to the edge, closing up the opening.  I then stitched in the ditch at the corners of the t-shirts to hold the back to the front.  I hope she enjoys her quilt while away at college.

A T-shirt for Maggie

Puppy T-shirt

     For my granddaughter's second birthday I made her a t-shirt.  She is into puppies right now so I bought this cute design from Designs by JuJu.  I used the fabrics from the 'It's My Day' chair banner that I made for her for the appliqué.

     The t-shirt was made from some knit I had left from making something for myself while the ribbing and contrast sleeves were from a t-shirt I had taken apart to do a t-shirt quilt.  I think it turned out quite cute and she loved it.

Pattern used

Coffee Cozy

Finished cozy

     I made coffee cup cozies for Christmas presents.  Here is how I did them.

Template from Winner Designs

     This template from Winner Designs makes it 'sew' easy to do.

Fabric layers

     I layered the insulated batting, then the inside fabric right side up and then the outer fabric right side down.  I used  the template and my rotary cutter to cut all three layers at one time.

Elastic used, hair ties

     These hair ties are what I used for my elastic.

Wonder clips in use

     I used Wonder Clips to hold them in place and then placed a few pins to hold the layers together.

Opening

     I sewed around with a 1/4" seam allowance, leaving an opening as seen above.

Front of cozy

     I then turned it right sides out and edge stitched, closing up the opening as I sewed.

Back of cozy

     I added some buttons and tied a knot in the elastic.  All finished in around 20 minutes.

It's My Day for a Girl

Finished chair cover

     A few years ago I made a chair cover to celebrate my grandson's birthday.  At the time that I bought his kit, I also bought a girl version in hopes that I would have a granddaughter.  Well he did have a little sister and she just celebrated her second birthday.

Kit

     I purposely did not make it for her first birthday as I knew chocolate and one year olds lead to messy situations.  I bought the kits at Mill House Quilts in Waunakee, WI.  I also had to buy the book that had the pattern.  It is so nice for all the appliqué pieces to be reverse printed so it was easy to just trace the shapes onto the paper backing of the fusible web.

Book

     After ironing it all in place that came the slow task of stitching around each piece.  After constructing the chair cover I then quilted around the different elements to hold it all together.  And the best part is that I did get it done in time for her party.

Church Baby Shower

     Just a quick post today.  Here are the receiving blankets I made for our church's baby shower.  I bought the flannels at JoAnn fabrics.  I washed them in hot water and dried in a hot dryer.  That shrinks the fabric and makes it nice and soft.  It also removes any chemicals from processing.  I don't use any soap or fabric softener to avoid problems with possible allergies.

     I cut the coordinating fabrics to the same size and then place right sides together.  I pin around the sides and cut the curved corners.  Then I sew around the edges, leaving an opening to turn.  I press everything, and then edgestitch all around.  This closes the opening and keeps the edges neat.  I can get one of these done in under an hour.  Hopefully they will bring some warmth to a newborn and a smile to the mom's face.