My Version of the T-Shirt Quilt

I did day care for my 2 grand daughters when they were little and had alot of memories! I started back quilting then and wanted a "memory quilt" for them to have.  So I started (when they were about 2 years old) keeping certain t-shirts that had a theme that they liked at the time. That way they could have  a comfortable quilt with lots of memories that Nanny (me!) made them and include some specific memories of their childhood

These were my first quilts done in about 20 years and I wasn't aware how many things had changed..until I got them done and made a few more! But with talent comes learning ..so...They are just fine! Both are very thick and heavy and we live in southern Califnornia, and both girls (now 15 and 9) can't use them as it doesn't get cold enough for a quilt so thick and heavy! But they are in totes for their future! Maybe a bed spread!

The first one I did for Kellie (now 15, 10 at the time of construcion). She was/is a city girl. No favorite color or theme, but when I showed her the guitars and it says "Rock-n-Roll" on it with cool guitars, she loved it. The pink panels are this fabric...which is a semi-flannel kind of fabric. The solid pink sashings are the same type of semi-flannel feeling fabric. I thought that'd make it soft and cuddley, and it would have if I had not  used a thick batting inside!. The back is fleece, black version of the same guitar print on the front. Where it is pink on the front it is black on the back. I thought I had a picture of it but I don't.

The T-shirts.... I made the block 12x12. The t-shirts were smaller, so I cut it large as possible and then appliqued it onto a 12x12 block of pink. Each shirt means something in her life. She was big on the "Hanna Montana" years, so there is one of that, she went to alot of places and mom would get her a t-shirt from there so those are there. Texting came into "style" and, well you see that shirt! A "Daddy's Princess" upper right corner. Below that is one she craft painted herself when she was a Daisy Girl Scout. The one in the middle there is one where I printed on a 12x12 fabric with my printer and said a few things about her and me and our memories together, then decorated it with paints and notions. Quilt is 60x60".  She loves it and remembers all the t's, but I understand why she can't use it!

This purple one is Ashleighs (now 9, 4 at the time of construction) purple is her favorite color

and I used the same layout as Kellie's. Same semi flannel and fleece. A few of her squares are not t-shirts as I had to do at the same time as Kellies, because I didn't know if I'd still be quilting few years later and didn't think I should chance not getting t's, so I just bought 1/4 of a yard of fabric of her favorite things.  The lavender sashings are a Tinkerbell print. The purple sashings are a semi flannel.  Same construction of the T-shirt blocks. The upper left corner is Tinkerbell fabric. She loved Tink and I had this fabric left from a school tote bag I made her. The 2nd up from the lower right is pink Disney Princess fabric.. I made her a night gown from this as she loved (and at 2 could receite all five names of the princesses!) so I used some of that. She to was with her cousin Kellie in the Hanna Montana years..she called her "Hanna Tanna" so there is her shirt from that time. The middle pink square is again, one I wrote something to her and printed it out The one above that (white) is one I had her cousin Kellie do this same thing because for a few years, those two were thick and theives! It was a great time for both of them. And she loved Jesse on Toy Story so...there she is. All shirts hold a memory!


This is the fleece back... Tinkerbell of course!   Nice fleece, soft and cuddly.  It is also 60x60 and she doesn't use her's for the same reasons! I put a thick batting inside..as that is what I always did 'before". What I should have done was use NO batting and the thickness of the semi flannel and the fleece would have been fine, but at the time... I didn't know you could make a quilt WITHOUT batting!!!

 

So, lesson learned...you CAN make a quilt WITHOUT batting inside! And you CAN use a very THIN batting in a quilt. All quilts don't have to be thick and cushy as for many years, was the "picture" that comes to mind when the word "quilt" is spoken! And a quilt DOESN'T have to be the bed spread! It can be a blanket too! I have since made a few quilts  using fleece as the back and 100% cotton front and NO batting and they are perfect warm blankets and the kids (got 4 more grand kids now!) love them.

 
Thanks for stopping by and...keep on sewing those memories!


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Tea, anyone? Well, for the birds anyway!

I know I've been "absentee" for a few months now, but life just keeps getting in the way of my fun activities! Plus... I've learned a few new crafts recently and have been spending as much time as I can on one of them..seeing how memories fade fast! Time is of the essence! I have learned about Junk Journals and made a few and love them. Same theory as the Fabric Memory books... just with paper instead of fabric! So much fun and ohm the memories they can keep! Stay tuned for more about those!

But for now.. I just wanted to share something I made that I have been trying to make for some time now. A Tea Cup Bird feeder!   I have quite a herd of various birds in my backyard (in the desert) that come every morning, expecting me to be up and food on their table by 7am! Sparrows, blue jays, doves and probably couple kinds I don't know what they are...and of course my hummingbirds. I have feeders, but want to decorate my back yard best I can. Being in the desert, heat is a constant problem and not being able to dig and plant like I want to.. and having sand for soil....I have to find other ways for decorating my yard. Nice large covered patio, but I need COLOR out there. So I try to decorate with "colored things" best I can while not letting it look junky!

Tuula, over at Thrifty Rebel Vintage ( and I love vintage anything!) shared a post while back about these cute little tea cup birdfeeders. Colorful, small, easy to make and just nice to have hanging around and no look junky! Her's is SOOO CUTE I just had to make one! So....after couple weeks of trying to find a tea cup set (I have one thrift store in town and that's it!) I went yesterday and although not a set, I found a painted tea cup and a painted saucer that kind of match, but lot of color... and made one following Tuula's direction.

 

 I love it! I have it hanging in my potted Dwarf Necterine tree, just above some lavender in a pot beside it. Isn't it pretty? Not being a set, the cup and saucer didn't "fit" right like in Tuula's post... I had to wad up some masking tape and make a wedge to make the cup sit up straight so when hanging, the saucer was straight. So to cover that, I glued some silk flowers to the sides and added one to the back, and ....BINGO!!! all looks nice! I also glued a larger flower to the inside bottom of the cup for color since this cup didn't have any painting on the inside like the one Tuula used. I hung it out today and the birds took to it right away! 

 Here's what it looks like all together! Little birds only seemed to like it, so that works just fine! I intend to continue looking for cups and saucers and make a few more. I have a potted dwarf Peach tree on the other side of this one, that needs a feeder!

The pot right behind the tree...I forget the plant but it blooms small purple flowers. But in the middle of that... I found this handmade clay bowl....and glued it to a plastic sundae fluted glass and have that sitting in there for water! Since I have a larger bird bath that they gather at, I dont' think they'll spend to much time here, but it looks nice anyway! And I can always put seed in it!

Below is what my "corner" looks like. I used this side of the yard as it is all clearly sen from my kitchen window so I can see it all, all day long. I have 2 hummingbird feeders handing at this window to, so I can see the whole gang.. which  in addition to all the birds, includes 3 rabbits (2 adult and one baby) 2 squirrels (that climb the poles to eat the bird seed) a family of 4 quails and 3 huge black ravens that I chase way nearly every day! I goofed..and didn't get the dwarf tree with the tea cup in this pic but you as you are looking at this pic.. you are standing just to the right of it!

Well, that's it for now! I am always looking for out door things to decorate my patio area with. As you can see... behind this is nothing but dirt.. unusable sand dirt! I have a nice patio lounge chair and am looking forward to the weather cooling down come fall (we have had upper 90's to triple digits all summer long!) so I can sit out and read a good book, sip from a nice glass of ice tea and watch my "kids" and enjoy my yard!


Thanks for stopping by and...keep on making those memories!

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