Tee Shirt Quilt

I'm working on a tee shirt quilt. This is the first time I've been asked to make one. This one is for a guy who plays softball with a senior league. A box of shirts arrived last week and I dug right into them. Most of them were white with emblems of various sizes.

I have to admit that I found this task a bit daunting until I found this tutorial over at Happy Quilting: http://www.happyquiltingmelissa.com/2013/08/t-shirt-memory-quilt-tutorial-and.html

I love the way she simply kept adding scraps of fabrics and then squaring as she went. I'm finding this technique works really well for such odd sized pieces of tee shirts.

I have two cats so I can't leave the pieces on the floor. I'm using masking tape to attach them to a large wall in my sewing room. I like that I can get a good look at how things are coming along and I can move things around.

(BTW - that lower corner is completely changed. I wasn't loving those prints/colors there...but you've got to start somewhere).

Making a quilt for an older man is tricky because I don't want the finished product to be too juvenile. Plus, I'm limited as to the fabrics I can use because I don't want it to look to feminine. I'm using a lot of plaids with some other misc. fabric scraps mixed in. I'm also throwing in some hand embroidery where I can..

I'll keep plugging away and hopefully finish with the blocks shortly. I'm planning to machine quit it using the "quilt as you go" method on each block. Then, I'll hand sew the blocks together. After that, I'll add a boarder. Baseballs in each corner and bats along each edges I think...unless I change my mind.

The County Fair!

There are so many things I love about summer time. Homemade ice cream, warm weather, not having to bundle up to go outside, summer fruits...and of course the fair!

The county fair is a yearly excuse to eat all of the junk food I can take in. I also enjoy seeing what creative people have been up to in the "home arts" exhibits. There was an amazing display of quilts..

 

How I missed getting a picture of the quilt that won the grand prize is beyond me. Too much excitement I guess. It was a beautiful appliqued floral design. I've decided that I'm going to enter a quilt next year. Maybe I'll win a ribbon!?!

Look at this adorable goat wool rug..!

And then there's the livestock. So many gorgeous animals to look at. Plus, it's fun to talk with the young 4-H kids there about their animals. They're so sweet and friendly...and they can teach you a lot!

With the day beginning to wind down the goats were able to socialize amongst themselves. I think they're checking in with each other about how the day went...

Ahh...we have a winner!!

This sweet baby calf was hungry, but luckily her mamma was right there with her..

I don't know what I enjoy more...the greasy fried snacks, the fiber arts or the animals. Luckily I don't have to choose.

Vintage Crochet Baby Socks...

I picked up this pair of vintage baby socks around two years ago. I had know idea what I was going to do with them, but I knew I needed to have them for a future project.

I finally decided on an applique design with tiny little hexies on the second sock. Now all I need to do is come up with a way to frame them..