Saturday, September 16, 2006

T Shirt Obsessed
This T shirt quilt was an ongoing project during the summer, just completed Thursday evening, and presented to my friend Dee for her birthday. Dee had saved t shirts for years; they represent her daughter Jazmine's activities as a child. Dee has been my very good friend for about 18 years (can it really be that long?) and exercise partner. We have spent hundreds of hours together talking, walking, running, and jogging. In the early years we were running , entering races, and completing a half marathon in 1987. For a running partner compatible schedules are important; Dee and I are both teachers, so we could usually meet maybe 2 or 3 times a week after school or on Saturday mornings. More recently our pace has slowed and in retirement, sometimes our schedules are even more challenging to figure out, but we still get together, now walking fast and not running so much, but the pace of our conversation is as fast as ever.

The T shirt quilt:
Forty two t shirts were used. I cut 11 inch squares from the front of each, then backed them with iron on interfacing in order to give the t shirt material more substance. Since the interfacing comes 22 inches wide, it was easy to decide on using 11 inch squares. I put all the squares down on my clean basement tile, arranging them in an agreeable color combination. Then I sewed them together to make the 6 by 7 square grid. Light blue flannel was used for the backing and bias binding with polyester batting in the center. Quilting was done by machine, mainly stitch in the ditch on the seam lines joining the t shirt squares.
The end result is a soft and comforting quilt filled with memories of Jazmine's activities during her school days.

Also on the t shirt front,
I happened upon this video and became obsessed with t shirt folding. I am not a naturally neat and tidy person, but now I can fold my t shirts in a flash and it's actually fun! Try it!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6088910942093028954&hl=en








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