T-Shirt Quilt -- A Pattern & Some Rough Cuts

In a recent closet purging session, I came to the realization that I have far too many t-shirts taking up valuable hanging space -- and yes, I'm one of those crazy people who hang t-shirts, and in color order, no less.  Anyhow, when it comes to t-shirts these days, I prefer to grab a pack of men's x-small v-neck undershirts in grey or white -- they're cheap, comfortable and not bad for working out in.  Since I just rotate through a handful of those, most of the shirts in my closet weren't being worn and were kept purely for nostalgic reasons.  So, down they came until I was left with a huge pile, mostly consisting of college / sorority shirts.

I'm not someone who holds onto every little thing, but for some reason, I was having a hard time letting these go. Since I have had a recent love affiar with quilting, I decided to stretch my skills and attempt a t-shirt quilt -- shirts would no longer be taking up closet space and they'd be saved from the dumpster!

To begin, I gathered all the shirts I wanted in the quilt and kept a couple on the side to be used just in case of a cutting fiasco or additional ones were needed to balance it out.  I sorted them into color piles to see what I had available so I could start brainstorming patterns.

Most of the shirts I had gathered had something on the front and the back, so if possible, I wanted to use both.  Because this was a lot to keep track of, I decided to 'take inventory' of the possible quilt squares I had available.

As you can see, there was nothing fancy about my list, but it allowed me to easily see what I had to work with.  Then it was off to the computer to create each of the blocks in the size and color indicated so I could decide on a layout.  I did this in PowerPoint since it was the easiest for moving all my blocks around.  The full/solid squares below are the shirt backs, the 9 block squares are made up of various shirt fronts, and I had a handful of shirts with just one line and was able to form two of the 3 rectangle squares.

Once I had a finalized layout, I felt safe taking scissors to my shirts.  For this part of the process, I used a cutting mat, clear ruler and rotary cutter along with my fabric shears.  Also, after getting a general idea of graphic size on my shirts, I decided 12" squares would be perfect so I picked up 12.5" and 4.5" square grids to help with cutting.

I didn't use the squares for this part of the process, I merely kept them handy so I could quickly see how much excess shirt I was safe to cut. 

I'd pick a shirt and lay the back face up. I placed the square grid on top and began cutting a good inch or two outside the edge, starting with the bottom then moving up the sides to remove the sleeves.   

Once the sleeves were gone, I opened it up and cut along the top shoulder part to separate the front from the back.

Then I used my 4.5" square grid to roughly cut around the front graphic on the shirt.

I repeated this process 30+ times until I had cut all the shirts I planned to use.  Then I piled them up to admire my hard work and decided to save the next step for another day.

Next up, adding a stabilizer and cutting actual quilt squares!

Patchwork Throw

I can already feel the slower pace of summer having an effect on me -- not that I get summers off or have kids out of school to entertain during the next three months -- but I am feeling work finally slow down and my energy to create coming back! 

With three days off this past weekend, I made it my personal goal to finish at least one of my "in process" projects and get started on a couple I have already gathered materials for. With boyfriend away for a guys weekend at the lake, I had a little extra "me" time and accomplished even more than I expected.  The one I am most excited about finally finishing is this patchwork throw that I started over a year ago!

I found the tutorial for this project in Amy Butler's book, "In Stitches" and thought it would be so great to have as a blanket to cuddle with on the couch.

Looking back, I realize that at the time I started this project, it was a bit above my skill level. I ran into several challenges that discouraged me from finishing and I just kept putting it off.

  

The quilt top was my first challenge. The individual pieces weren't actual sewn to one another, instead they were pieced together on top of muslin. This caused several of mine to have some 'slack' in them by the time I was finished. The next challenge came with the actual quilting. I had no experience with this when I started and I did not do a great job of pinning my layers together. Then, to make matters worse, I started quilting random pieces based on what was easiest to get through my sewing machine.  This combined with poor pinning caused a lot of the back to get bunched when quilted sections came together. This was extremely discouraging at times and I would simply fold it up and vow to finish it later.  

This past weekend was my 'later' and despite the many problems it already had, I knew finishing would be good practice and regardless of the mistakes, would still make a great throw for the couch or a cute blanket for picnics in the park.

After many hours and hundreds of 1" quilting lines later, I was ready and super excited to bind!  I decided to do a patchwork binding to go along with the patchwork throw. I think it adds just enough charm to to distract from all the rookie quilting mistakes :)

The second I finished binding, I threw it in the wash and got myself a glass of wine!  When it was washed and dried, I curled up on the couch, just as I had envisioned, and settled in to watch "The Bachelorette." 

 

 

Despite it's many flaws, I am thrilled it's finished and I get excited in a very nerdy sewing way when I get to use it at night. I am happy to say it now has a home next to my couch instead of hiding among the other projects in the "in process" sewing pile.

Happy Sewing!

My Growing List

Whoa! It's been a crazy, hectic, busy couple weeks around here. This is one of those times of the year where work seems to really inhibit my creative time and I end up spending more time compiling a list of future projects and no time actually completing them. I'm hoping things will start to slow down next week -- I know they won't be back to normal, but I'll take slower for now -- because I've got a whole list of things I want to start tackling!

For example, I've been searching for the perfect mirror to hang above my bed but can't seem to find exactly what I want in my price range.  These are a few I've considered, but somehow just can't bring myself to spend the money -- I guess that's a good thing, right?!

ZGallerie - Devon Mirror - $199

Kirkland's - Bronze Fan Mirror - $109

Kirkland's - Chloe Floral Mirror - $119

Ballard's - Bellesol Mirror - $169

I've also been scouring Hobby Lobby, Home Goods, etc. for some good sales, but still can't find exactly what I want. The price is either wrong, or it's too small, or the wrong finish -- which I know can be fixed, but who wants to do that when you spend money on something brand new?! -- too much mirror, too pointy -- I'll let you take a wild guess which one that might be :) etc. 

So, last week while I was doing some lunch break blog reading, I came across Katie's DIY starburst mirror and decided I'd just have to make my own!  Assuming it's a success, it would solve all my problems since it'd be completely custom.  I'm debating between her method, which I love because it's more solid and chunky, or this one, or this one.  Whichever I end up choosing, I've thought of ways to tweak it to suite me more and once decided, will begin gathering my supplies. So, here's one project that has officially been added to the to-do list!

Something else on the list for a while now is to finish up the dog crate makeover of way back when. Now that the crates are more prominently displayed in the living room, I'm dying to get some fabric on them, I just can't decide exactly what I want.  I'm leaning towards something more neutral like a geometric grey and then I can add some fun new crate pillows for a pop of color -- which I guess also means there's another project on the to-do list.

 

And, along the fabric discussion, I still need to find something fun to cover the plain white storage boxes in my craft nook along with the cork board and lamp shade.  I'm apparently leaning towards yellow...

    

Along with the DIY home decor things, I have a handful of sewing projects I want to get started on. I've had fabric for an infinity scarf, bed pillows, and couch pillows for months now and I'm dying to turn my stack of 30+ old sorority shirts into a t-shirt quilt. Speaking of quilts, I also bought some Christmas fabric on sale after the holidays with the intention of making myself a Christmas quilt. I haven't officially decided what I'm going to do with it, but I figure it's never too early to start!

Also on my list -- as of this morning -- is to try an upholstery project similar to this boxed ottoman.  I don't need something this large, but I'm thinking two smaller ones in my bedroom would be perfect! Ikea even sells these small side tables that are cheap enough that I'd have no guilt immediately tweaking them.  I am a beginner upholster-er -- as in never tried it, beginner -- and an average sewer so this could either be a total disaster or my biggest accomplishment thus far :)

Hopefully work starts to slow down soon and I can find the time -- and energy -- to cross some things off my list before even more get added!  Now, which to pick first...

Sweet Sentiments

I did this project a few months ago for a close friend as a thank-you for helping out during a difficult time. It happened to be close to her anniversary, 10.10.10 -- how cool is that?! -- so I made her and her husband something sweet and personal to help them celebrate their first year of married life.  With Valentine's Day just around the corner, it seemed like an appropriate time to share and hopefully inspire some homemade, sentimental gifts.

Here's what I used to make Katie's Anniversary Art...

*a small frame -- found at Michael's  *a Texas road atlas/map -- which was surprisingly hard to find!  Apparently maps are no longer a necessity with our fancy-schmancy phones these days and when I finally found one on my fourth try, there were just a few left in the clearance section  *card stock of your choice for the background  *date label -- I printed mine on white fabric using freezer paper and my home printer, which I can explain in more detail, but you could simply use a marker, or printer, or stickers, etc.  *thread of your choice *scissors  *glue

First thing I did was cut my background card stock to the appropriate size. I did this by removing the glass from my frame, tracing around it onto the backside of the paper, and simply cutting it out with scissors. Now that I had my background, I could decide how big I wanted my label. I chose to try something new I'd heard about which allows you to use your normal home printer and print right on fabric using freezer paper.  I cut my freezer paper to 8 1/2 x 11 -- standard computer paper size -- and pressed it shiny side down onto the wrong side of my fabric. Then I cut my fabric to the same size and sent it through the printer like it was a piece of paper. Peel of the freezer paper and use your customized fabric however you choose -- in this case, for an anniversary label :)

Since I was using fabric as my label, I wanted a little stitch detail to highlight it.  I secured the fabric label with a very thin layer of glue just to keep it in place and once it was dry, began zig-zag stitching around the edges.

I wanted the stitch length closer than normal and as much thread showing as possible, so I chose these settings on my machine.

I worked my way around the label -- with just a few glitches -- and really loved how it turned out!

Now it was time for my map! Katie and Mike were married in Austin, so I thought it most appropriate to use in their anniversary art :)

I used some leftover card stock to make a heart template -- I didn't trust myself to get a perfect heart on my first try -- and traced it right on the front of my map, centering Austin as best I could.

Next, I cut it out and used glue to adhere it to my card stock.

All that was left was to let it dry, put it in the frame and wrap it up!

Other than hunting down a map, it was such a simple project and has so many possibilities.  Might be a sweet little gift for a special valentine :)

Scrabble Tile Pillows

I'm trying to keep my promise and get some 'how-to's up for previous projects I've completed -- first on my list are the scrabble tile pillows. 

I mentioned before that they were a recent gift for boyfriend and a way of testing something I've never tried before -- beginner applique.  I knew boyfriend wouldn't mind -- or probably even notice -- if they weren't perfect, so it was a great little test run.  Here are the supplies I used...

*Neutral/Tile colored fabric for the pillows -- how much depends on the size you want to make. My pillow forms were 16"x16" so each of my pillow fronts and backs needed to be 17"x17", using a 1/2" seam allowance
*Black Fabric -- for two pillows, a 1/4 of a yard was plenty
*Zipper -- I used 12" because it's what I had on hand
*Heat 'n Bond
*Computer/Printer for letter design
*Coordinating Thread for pillows and letters
*All your other sewing goodies -- rotary cutter/scissors, cutting mat, clear ruler, etc.

I started by printing out my letters. I work best in PowerPoint so I just typed the letter I wanted and it's corresponding point value and re-sized until it was the height I desired. You can see from the picture below, mine were about 9"-10" tall by how much of the page they take up.  You don't have to worry about placement of letters and numbers because you can arrange those on the fabric later. 

A note about printing: If it's possible, print the mirror image of the letter because it will make things easier in the next step.  I could not find that setting on the three printers I tried -- home, and 2 work -- so I just had to get a little inventive.

Once you have the letters and numbers printed out, it's time to trace them onto the heat 'n bond.  When tracing them, you want them to appear backwards, so if you've printed out the mirror image, it will be as simple as tracing your printout onto the rough side of the heat 'n bond. If not, you'll need to use lamp and glass or a window so you can flip your letter over and trace it onto the rough side of the heat 'n bond backwards.  I used a lamp with a piece of glass over the top.  Just be sure to trace quickly or pick up the glass every couple minutes so you don't initiate the 'heat' process too early :)

After you've traced them, roughly cut out each letter and number.  Then you want to place them -- still facing backwards -- onto the wrong side of your fabric. Peel off the back side and press them into place.

Once they're fused to the fabric, and cooled for a minute or two, cut them out following your tracing lines.  Now you can flip them over and the black fabric should be facing you and reads correctly, but still have paper on one side, which is now the backside.

Set your letters aside for a minute and cut 2 pieces of your tile colored fabric to the desired pillow size -- remembering to add 1" for your seam allowance.  Now grab one piece for the front and arrange your letter and number how you want. I used my clear ruler to help me center the letters and make sure they didn't appear wonky.

Once they're in place, peel off the paper on the backside and press to permanently adhere them.

You could stop here and go on to make your pillows, or choose to stitch/applique the letters.  I chose to do a zig-zag stitch around the edges of the letters and a straight stitch on the numbers since they were pretty small.  Here are the settings I used for the zig-zag stitch.

This was the new part for me and I wanted practice following different shapes. I had an easier time with the 'Q' than the 'A' but it could have been because it was second.  I discovered that when starting, it's best to place your needle down just on the outside of the black letter and in the tile fabric.  This is also true when pivoting around a corner or curve. If you keep it close to the letter but just on the outside, the stitch looked more professional. You can see below that I started at the top with my needle in the letter and the thread carried too far into the tile, making it look uneven and kind of 'hairy'.  By the time I got to the inside of the 'A' I had learned from that mistake and the majority of my stitching is on the black fabric.

Once you've made it around each letter and number, the fronts are done and you can move on to assembling your pillow however you choose. I decided to use zippers, but you could make a simple envelop back as well.  Also, since mine was a test run for another project and not adequately planned for, I didn't have enough fabric for my pillow backs. Luckily, I had something similar in color that ended up dressing the pillows up a bit.

Add your pillow form or stuffing, and you're all done! 

If they're gifts, better wrap them quickly before someone else falls in love :)  Maybe I'll have to make an 'S' pillow for little Shi one day...

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