I’m Makin’ A Quilt, Checkin’ it Twice…Gonna Find Out if It’s Awful or Nice

That’s what hubby wanted for Christmas – a quilt, made from his old t-shirts that are special to him from his ministries and from his kids and from olden golden days. They’re getting really beat-up looking, stained, yellowed with age, and a few with little holes in them. And, since we’ve got the house on the market and are trying to downsize some things, he decided to clean out his closet, but didn’t want to part with all those memories. So…………..that’s what I’m making him. I have no idea what I’m doing, though.

Here’s the “in the beginning.”  I began by cutting out the sayings from each shirt, and sticking the cutting board inside the shirts made that job a whole lot easier. I managed to save the backs that way, which was good because I ended up needing them for strips between the panels, and to make one little panel to fill in one row that was too short.

oops, forgot to take pictures of putting the backing on. Use your imagination. 🙂

put with plain squares from backs of shirts, to make one big square

cutting board inside – handy dandy cotton candy!

I noticed he was REALLY nostalgic about that welding job – kept little mementos in the pocket seam. What I couldn’t figure out, though, was why those mementos were wood shavings … somehow it just didn’t fit with what I thought welding was all about. 😆

what lurks in yon seam folds?? ’tis wood shavings!!

It’s almost done, but not in time for Christmas. He’s OK with that now. I’ll get it by New Year’s, I promised. Actually, I think it’s going to turn out pretty well, all things considered. Squeezing it in between purses and wallets and housekeeping (gotta keep it nice for prospective buyers!) and work, poor hubby ended up taking the back seat in the bus. He is so sweet and easygoing!

Anyway … here is his special quilt. The whole thing (except the back) is made entirely from his old t-shirts. They tended to curl a little here and there when I sewed them together – even with the iron-on backing to keep them from stretching so much. But hey, as this is only the second time EVER that I’ve attempted making a quilt, or any quilting at all, I don’t feel so bad. He loves it so far!!!

by this time next week: DONE
I hope!!

Well, that was my Christmas project, amongst these three, which DID get done. One I could have waited to finish, I discovered later. It wasn’t needed after all (the pink belted one), so it has just become (you guessed it!!!) my new favorite purse! The nautical one was for a coworker’s daughter who just passed her captain’s test to run a river taxi in Chicago. Way to go, Chloé! But I just fell in love with that third one, the flop-purse, as I call it, made for my friend’s 13-year-old daughter. A plus for me: I have the other jeans leg, and will make another one like it, with different lining. *sigh* the LORD is good to me. So many fun things to make. And all those imperfections you see? They’re not character flaws – they’re flaws that add character!! Just thought I’d throw that in here, in case you were wondering or anything.

Oh … and one more thing … I forgot to mention that this whole week’s posts will be all about the WordPress Challenge for the week, “Just Do It.” So, if you’re in the mood for writing, this would be the week to git er dun. Jes sayin’

backside of nautical theme purse

I had a cute little seashell necklace piece (necklace broke) for the zipper pull

I ended up taking this in on the sides – no picture of that (yet!)

love these pockets!

cross/body flop-top. This is one leg of some jeans I had

pocket made from part of the leg. Not perfect, but I’m OK with that now.

MAY THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHOSE BIRTH WE CELEBRATE THIS DAY, BE GRACIOUS TO YOU AND YOURS!!