New Orleans House Project

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

T-Shirt Quiltathon Wrap-up

 I'm doing a happy dance because I've finished the T-shirt Quiltathon!

I finished the final t-shirt quilt in mid-April, but nature and other forces prevented picture-taking until recently.  This quilt is for me, and contains lots of great memories.  I love how the quilting (thanks, Diane Knott!) softens everything - kinda like time makes our memories get hazy!

I found the perfect backing fabric in my stash.  It must have been on sale when I bought it, otherwise why would I have five yards of flamingos?

I've also been clearing out stash fabrics by making pillowcases to store each t-shirt quilt.  Yet another flamingo print got used up!

So, to recap:  I made four approximately twin-sized t-shirt quilts between December 31, 2020 and April 15, 2021.  All four quilts were quilted by Diane Knott of Butterfly Threads Quilting.  Each quilt was finished with machine-stitched binding, a label, and a storage pillowcase.  

The memories are all stitched and stored, and now my quiltathon is done!





Wednesday, April 14, 2021

T-Shirt Quiltathon: Three Down, One to Go!

 The T-Shirt Quiltathon is almost complete!

To recap:  on December 31, 2020, I decided to turn four plastic bins full of t-shirts into the quilts I had procrastinated on making for years.  I opted for a simple plan of stabilized t-shirt designs (cut from the front or back of the shirt) with basic sashing, borders and cornerstones.  It didn't take long to assemble four quilts, and I used up some chunks of fabric from my stash in the process.

Dear Hubby had enough t-shirts for two quilts, so I separated them by theme.  

Thanks goodness Diane Knott of Butterfly Threads Quilting agreed to long-arm quilt my creations!  Trying to manipulate these guys on a domestic sewing machine would have been a pain.

Once the quilts were quilted, I started making LOTS of bias binding.  Using the machine binding techniques I had recently practiced, I was able to get the bindings completed in relatively short order.  

Dear Son David's quilt was so big I had to fold it over the gate for a picture.

Dear Hubby's second quilt has t-shirts that celebrate life and vacations in Florida. 

I debated labeling these quilts, since I consider them just a step above utility quilts.  Labels won out, in part because of the memories reflected in all the t-shirts.

I found the perfect size scrap of baseball fabric for my hubby's sports-themed quilt.  The gray and blue zig-zag fabric I used for the backing was also a fortuitous find in the stash.


David is a fan of puns, so I thought he would appreciate this musical name for his quilt.

I haven't finished the label for hubby's vacation quilt, but it will include this last bit of t-shirt remnant.  The backing fabric on this quilt is from Fabric Finders, a regional fabric firm that makes lots of fabrics with Louisiana themes.

There's only one t-shirt quilt left to bind and label - of course I saved mine for last.  We're in for a spate of stormy weather over the next couple of days, so I have the perfect Stay Home and Sew project!