Finally Finished!

It's been quite a journey making this quilt.  There are a lot of memories stitched in its seams along with plenty of hope for a happy future for Tami's husband and daughter as they find their way without her by their sides.

Silkie Tags

What is the magic that draws people to silkie tags?  Kids love them!  In fact, my granddaughter, Miss Three, rubbed the silkie tag on her blanket to tatters when she was little.  It's amazing the comfort a little satin tag can hold.  While cutting the shirts apart, I noticed a care label that would be appropriate for the quilt. (The typo in the label bothers me a little, but maybe it's a good reminder that nothing is perfect!)  Not only does it provide washing instructions, but hopefully it will add a little bit of extra comfort to the quilt as well.

Binding

And now on to hand stitching the binding to the backside of the quilt.

Quilted

The t-shirt quilt is finally quilted!  Now on to the binding...

Ready To Quilt!

The t-shirt quilt for my friend's family is finally on the frame and ready to quilt!  

Border...Problem Solved!

I have been trying to figure out how to put a border on this quilt for the past week or so. I was at my wits end while working on it last night and about to give up when Hey Jude came on the radio. Long story, but it's one song that always makes me think of Tami. Tears immediately came to my eyes, but I started singing along and out of the blue, how to piece the border came to me. I don't know if it was Tami letting me know how she would like the placement or not, but I'm glad the problem is solved!

Stitched

The top of the t-shirt quilt is finally stitched together, but it's a little on the small size...only 45" x 55".  I think I'll see if I can use the leftover backs of the t-shirts for a border to make it just a little bit bigger.

Designing Process

Now that the interfacing is fused on to the wrong side of the t-shirts, I can start cutting blocks and try to figure out what is going to go where.  I'm not sure that this will be the final layout, but I think I'm getting close!

Interfacing...

Oh my!  I have a feeling that fusing the interfacing to all of these t-shirts is going to be the most time consuming part of making this quilt!  I used a tutorial from Quilting In The Bunkhouse for this step...lots of great advice for what kind of interfacing to use and how to cut and fuse it to the t-shirts.

The First Cuts

The first cuts into Tami's shirts were the hardest and yes, there were tears, but the job got easier as I went along.  Lots of happy memories of growing up together came back as I worked while listening to some of our favorite music of the 70's and 80's.  Summers at the pool, talking as we walked back and forth to school, bike rides, shopping trips, sleepovers, cooking disasters, cruising the neighborhood together the day I got my drivers licence, dances...all those things that best friends do when they are young.

Labor Of Love

On November 4th I lost one of my oldest and dearest friends, Tami Boehmer, to metastatic breast cancer.  She left behind a loving husband and 16 year-old daughter.  Being 500 miles away and feeling terribly helpless, I offered to make them a quilt from her t-shirts.  The box of shirts arrived in the mail the other day and so my labor of love begins...

Handknit With Love

A longtime friend just entered into hospice care this week.  Although we are close at heart, we are not close in miles, so I can't be there to help her and her family.  I'm one who needs to DO something and I had already made and given her a quilt a couple of years ago, so I went to work on knitting her a pair of cozy slipper socks.  Very little in the grand scheme of things, but it brightened her day when they arrived in the mail and I know she will be reminded of how much I love her when she wears them.

The pattern is Chunky Knit Slipper Socks and the awesome printable wrapper is from Cobberson & Co.

A Quilt For A Cause

Awhile back when I was on a mission to finish my unfinished quilt tops, I decided that rather than sending them all off to various charities like I normally do that I would hang on to a few of them for a rainy day.  Recently it rained.  I got word last week from a friend that she had lost a dear friend to breast cancer and  was planning a benefit in her memory.  I asked if she could use a quilt for the benefit...she was thrilled with the suggestion.  I put a label on the quilt, boxed it up and it's now on it's way to Cincinnati, Ohio to be part of a silent auction that will benefit The Pink Ribbon Girls in Pattie Noel's memory.  I would have never been able to put together a quilt on such short notice, so I'm glad that I had a few quilts set aside for just such an occasion.

To read more about Pattie and this event visit Tami Boehmer's webpage at www.tamiboehmer.com

To learn more about The Pink Ribbon Girls visit www.pinkribbongirls.org

In case any of you live in the Cincinnati area and would like to attend the benefit, you can find all of the details HERE

From Incurable To Incredible Giveaway

For your chance to win a copy of this book full of inspiration and hope, click HERE.

From Incurable To Incredible Giveaway

Because October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, because I just spent an amazing week with my friend and author, Tami Boehmer, and because cancer patients can never have enough hope, I am giving away a copy of Tami's book, From Incurable To Incredible.
From Incurable To Incredible is a book of cancer survivors who beat the odds. The book features 27 cancer survivors who were all given a terminal diagnosis, but shocked everyone by thriving years past their prognoses. These “miracle survivors” have different cancers and circumstances, but share two things: a poor prognosis and incredible drive to overcome it.  With stories full of inspiration and hope this book is a must read for anyone, whether they have a cancer diagnosis or not.
For a chance to win a copy of From Incurable To Incredible just leave a comment below telling me why you would like a copy of this book.  Has cancer touched your life? Do you know someone who beat the odds against a cancer diagnosis? Do you want to give this book to someone who needs a little extra hope to help fight a cancer diagnosis?  Or do you just want to read a good book with a positive message? For an extra chance to win, just blog about this giveaway and leave another comment with the link to your post! The winner will be selected by Random Number Generator and announced on Monday, October 17.

For more information about Tami Boehmer and From Incurable To Incredible visit www.tamiboehmer.com

From Incurable To Incredible is available for sale at Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com 
10 percent of the proceeds from all sales of From Incurable To Incredible goes to LIVESTRONG and through the month of October, an additional 10 percent benefits the National Breast Cancer Coalition.

Woodloch Resort

As you know, I was traveling last week, so I don't have any new projects to talk about, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the wonderful resort where I was staying.  Woodloch Resort in Hawley, Pennsylvania is an amazing all-inclusive getaway set in the middle of the Pocono Mountains on the shore of Lake Teedyuskung.  Woodloch truly has it all...you name it and they have it and if they don't have it they will do their best to get it for you!  Golf, go-carts, hiking, biking, boating, swimming, spa treatments, evening shows in the night club...the list of activities goes on and on.   If you're looking for a fabulous getaway for the whole family or just for two Woodloch is for you!

Ready For Delivery!

The Detour Around The Yellow Brick Road quilt is finished and ready for delivery!  I'm quite excited that I get to deliver this quilt in person as I made it for a childhood friend who I haven't seen in over 15 years!  We're going to be spending a few wonderful days at a resort in the Pocono's together, just us girls, giggling and laughing the days and nights away just like we did back in the 6th grade!  It's going to be so much fun!

Moving Forward

I made it around the detour and I'm moving forward with the Detour Around The Yellow Brick Road quilt.  I'm pleased with the finished top, even if it isn't exactly the pattern that I started out to make.  Now to see if I can quilt it without any detours!

Detour Around The Yellow Brick Road

I can't remember how many times over the years I had teachers ask me if I read all of the directions before beginning an assignment.  Apparently not much has changed since my school days.  I started a quilt using the Yellow Brick Road pattern and somewhere along the way I missed the part in the instructions that said, "Leftover strips will be used later".  Translated that means, "Don't sub-cut all of the strips just yet", but I didn't figure that out until after I (yep, you guessed it) cut all of the strip sets.  Thankfully, I was able to design enough blocks from the pieces that I had leftover to finish the quilt.  No, it's not really a Yellow Brick Road quilt now, but I think my Detour Around The Yellow Brick Road is just as nice!
And for those who are wondering if I have learned my lesson about reading directions...probably not.     

Quilted Notebook Folio

My very talented quilty friend, Mary Jane, developed this quilted notebook folio pattern and was kind enough to share her pattern with me so I could make one for a very dear friend of mine. This is a view of the open folio and you can see that the construction is fairly simple and just uses fabric scraps and a bit of heavy interfacing. I added ribbon ties on each side, so the folio could be tied closed, but a button closure or even a velcro tab would have been nice too. Thanks, Mary Jane, for being so willing to share your pattern and ideas!