Metamorphosis Monday-T Shirt blanket

I’ve shown you before what I do with all the sourvenier t-shirts that we seen to
accumulate at our house. I make t-shirt quilts/blankets out of them. I just got
another one done and wanted to share again how easy it is!

Using a 12” square template, I lay it on the t-shirt, positioning it so the design is
Included as much as possible. Sometimes this means not horizontally, I’ve even placed them on an angle. (Just takes a little more care when sewing) I have chose to use the biggest design on the front of my blanket, so sometimes that the back of the shirt.
Sometimes there’s a small design (such as in the upper left front) and I try to make sure that it’s included. That give the back of the blanket a little fun too.

I save t-shirts for a year or so, because many of them we do wear for awhile. Then, when I get at least 16-20 saved, I put them together out on the floor to make some kind of a design.

This time, I didn’t add any stuffing, but last time I did. I sew them together, as they were laid out.

These blankets/throws make for a lot of fun and conversation. A lot of memories from events we’ve gone to and enjoyed, or participated in. (Suh

We use these throws at our cabin at the lake, for cool evenings on the deck. They wash up wonderfully, and are not so “precious” that we are afraid to use them.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment on my latest metamorphosis.

You can other great ideas at the below link:
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

Addendum: For another one of these fantastic blankets, please click on the below link. It will show the version with the batting.

http://smalltownimages.blogspot.com/2009/05/metamorphosis-monday-may-11-2009.html

Quilt Mosaic

It's the time of year when we bring out the heavy blankets, so I made a mosaic with photos of 3 of my many quilts!

The following poem is entitled Appreciation

There are quilts that make me wonder.

There are quilts that make me blink.

There are quilts that tug my heartstrings.

There are quilts that make me think.

But the quilts that mean the most

And fill my heart with glee

Aren't the ones I see at quilt shows

But the rare ones made for me!

By Jacquie Scuitto

The quilt on the left was one that when my Grandmother passed away - we found the pieces and I finished the top and had it quilted. The one in the middle is one that I got on clearance at JC Penney, and the one on the right is one I made when we had a snow storm and I was snowed in for 5 days!

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I love making mosaics, and love having visitors, so that makes it for a great post. Join everyone over at the below link for more incredible mosaics!

http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/

Thrifty Thursday

This is the bed the DD#2 had when she was growing up. When DD#2 was very young, I told my MIL that I wanted to find an old iron bed for her when we moved into our new house, for her new room. MIL said she thought if I looked out in the shed that there might be one, but didn't know if it would all be there or not. As luck would have it DH and I went searching and under (honestly, I'm not kidding) 4" of chicken poop, we found this bed. All 4 pieces were there, but the one side was bent and wouldn't stay together. So, DH took it to a friend's house, welded one side rail solid at the head and foot board and it went together well. UNTIL we tried to get in her room. It has to be turned upside down, and backwards to get in the door, then flipped over and turned the other way to get the other end in. Consequently, we don't move it out of there without good reason.

This bed was Eldon's Dad's bed when he was a child. One of the metal uprights on the end has a bend in it. Mike was the youngest of 6 children - 5 girls and him. The story was that his sister grew tired of his antics and tied him to the bed one time. As he struggled to get lose, it caused a bend in the metal post. Isn't that classic????
This is definitely a Thrifty Thursday post, because it was free for the taking as long as we wanted to clean it up. After a trip to the car wash and several coats of heavy white paint, it's lasted (since 1982) and still is used when DD#2 and SIL come home to stay. As a matter of fact we are looking forward to Independence Day with them being home!!! Go see more Thrifty Thursday posts at http://labratina.blogspot.com/. Thanks Leigh for your graciousness again this week!

Three or More Tuesday

For Three or More Tuesday, I've chosen to show you some of my quilts. I've tried quilting, and I'm not good at it. I can't see well enough to make the stitches as small as I want, and I'm too picky to do them any other way. I have numerous quilts and thought I'd show you a few.

I found these squares already made up, in some of my Grandma's stuff. I believe it is a modified dresden plate, and might be one that grandma made up on her own. Each piece was sewn together by hand. I began with the squares and went from there.

Here's the whole quilt. I put it together and paid someone else to quilt it. I had a hard time trying to decide what colors to use. The orange is SO bright, and I am SO not an orange fan, but I used the green and orange borders, with a pale peach to tone down the squares. I love the way it turned out.

This quilt rack holds my red/navy snowman quilt purchased from Penneys on clearance a few years back, the yellow double wedding ring quilt made by my Grandma Alley for our wedding gift in 1972, the small one on the left front is my son's baby quilt also made by my Grandma Alley, and the front one on the right is my baby quilt ALSO made by Grandma Alley.

And my double knit quilt made by my mother in law. You know how double knit NEVER wears out!!!

And last, but not least there is my t-shirt quilt that was my Metamorphosis Monday post this week.

Go to http://gypsycorner.blogspot.com/ for more Three or More Tuesday fun!

Metamorphosis Monday, May 11, 2009

What you say???? What in the world is this pile of t-shirts doing on a metamorphosis post?
Well, scroll down and I will show you how to turn it in to something fun.

If you are from the midwest, you are accustomed to getting a t-shirt for any and every event that comes along, whether it's your 100th gallon of giving blood, the opening of a new store, or you walked a 2 K in 4 hours, if you do it-----you get a t-shirt. Is there anything in your closet more comfortable than your old t-shirt? What do you do with them when they get stained, streched out, or just start to really look bad? Well, for a long time, I threw them away. That is, until one day I decided there had to be a better way - to keep them yet make them useful. Our t-shirts usually have memories with them and are connected to something we did as a family or with friends. I bought a template and using my rotary cutter and mat, began the trial run of something that turned out really neat. Pulling out every t-shirt, and I mean every one that I'm still not too attached to and wearing occasionally and put them in a pile. My first quilt/blanket has 25 t-shirts in it, 5 wide/5 long, making it a huge but manageable throw. I have it at the lake, where on a cool evening someone invariably needs a blanket out on the deck, or rather than turn on the fireplace- you just cover up. It's VERY washable, and because it's made from old t's who cares if it gets dirty or stained. You know t-shirts are very easily cleaned. Throw it in the washer and dryer and it is as good as new. This is how I do it.....

I hand press the t-shirt out on my cutting board, with the decorative part laying the direction that I want to to be on the quilt/blanket. I have done them every direction, depending on the design and what you want it to look like. Take into consideration however the stretch direction, when you are sewing them together. Ones that are on the bias are going to be a little harder to manage. I have always used the biggest design for the front of the quilt/blanket, and the smallest design for the back. I use the 12"x12" template, and just rotary cut around it - double thickness, zip/zip/zip/zip - done. I use the same template to cut batting, place it between the two pieces of t-shirt and pin together. The t-shirt squares are then sewn together with 1/2" seams. It seems pretty wide, but because of the next step it actually works well. Below is the back of the blanket. You see, some of them had sponsors on the back, and the one had the ship that was on the front upper left when wearing it, but now is on the back.

I use heavy crochet thread to bind the seams on the back of the blankt/quilt, so if there would be a chance of raveling, it will keep it from doing so. I think the binding makes it look a little more clean than leaving it. I have also thought about using a contrasting color or thread to make it a little more decorative, but just haven't yet.

The completed blanket/quilt is decorative, and as I said usually could tell a story of its very own. I don't worry too much about placement, but try not to have the dark ones all together, unless that's the way you want. It's yours, do it your way...... I promise you will not have a more fun, warm, talked about blanket in your entire house. Everyone LOVES to look at it and remember where we were and what we were doing when we got this shirt or that. I recently cleaned out the t-shirt drawer again, and have enough to do another 25 blanket/quilt. I'm sure that it's never ending. Our grandsons are involved in sports and of course we have to have a shirt.......

As you can see by this and previous posts, I don't throw much away. I try to re-use, repurpose, re-invent everything I can, even used t-shirts. Enjoy your Met Monday, and be sure to go see Susan over at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ for more great ideas.

What's On Your Wall Wednesday

Thanks to http://gritsglamour.blogspot.com/ for hosting TWO great blogs this week! Check 'im out!

I made this wall hanging quilt when we finally got our basement finished. It's appliqued and approx 2x3 feet. My DH made the matching house hanger for it. I've made 5 or 6 of these quilts with different things on them, donating them to the Hospice Auction in April each year. They sold very well and I was tickled about that. This one has been up a long time, but still looks good where I have it. It's one of my many quilts.

Metamophosis Monday and Blue Monday

Double Post! Blue Monday and Metamophosis Monday!

This is the strip quilt I made I believe in 1992 when we were snowed in for 5 days. We were lucky to not lose our electricity like so many did, so I was able to sew. I used fabrics that were important, such as cloth that I had made clothes for the kids out of when they were little. I actually made ALL of their clothes when there were only two of them, and I was a stay-at-home Mom.

The quilt is very simple to make. Cut fabric in strips 4 1/2 inches wide and sew together -length ways, using 1/4 inch seam allowance, making each strip 4" wide after sewn. Cut the strips in strips, 4 1/2 inches wide, the opposite way. Once again using 1/4 inch seam allowance, shift the pattern one square down and sew again, this time ending up with 4" squares. You then trim off the odd shaped ends, and sew them together, add to the quilt and you are done. It sounds kind weird, but if you actually get to this point, you will understand what I mean.

The reason this is a double post, is because the back of my quilt is a twin sized navy blue bed sheet AND it takes this

and turns it in to THIS!!!

Thanks again for Met Monday and Blue Monday! Join everyone at the below sites to see much, much more!!! Met Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ ; Blue Monday at http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/ Thanks for all the fun and great ideas!

Master Bedroom

Below you can see the story of us in our bedroom. I tried to make it comfortable, yet to my liking - taking into consideration that DH isn't really too "into" the really feminine look like I am.

My Princess Diana teddy bear collectible, given to me by my BFF, Yvonne.

They gloves I wore to my Sr. Prom in 1972!

The red rose doiley on the right was made for a wedding gift by my Mom's best friend. The lace above left, was made by my Grandma Alley. She gave it to me on a pillow, but I thought it needed to be on the back of this chair that was recovered by a friend.

A birthday gift from my husband is the beautiful paper cut "The Rose". The tea cup was sent to me when my Step Dad died and is a very special treasure.

This old child's wardrobe was purchased at an auction and was in DH's family. It has an small hanging rod that belongs where the TV is, and it was painted green, with green toile fabric inserts in the doors and sides. I was unable to find toile that was what I wanted, so found the leaf-print in tones of cream, painted it cream, and there it was. The metal drawer pulls are original, but there was only one glass knob on the lower drawers. I looked for quite awhile before finding matching knobs in an antique store. I had to buy a bag of 6 drawer pulls to get the three I need!

Grandma Alley's Secretary

Look at these darling little shoes!

I did write a little blog on how important my bed is to me, but wanted to show you the "rest of the story". When we built our home, we started out with what we thought was a big bedroom, 17 x 14. We had a king sized water bed in the dark, almost black finish, and matching large dresser. The dresser and bed both had large mirrors in them, which is like my most unfavorite (?) thing in the world. Of course the whole house was painted in the normal for those days - white. I had an orange bedspread and curtains. Oops, starting to have a flash-back there for a minute! Ha! When we built our home in 1982, we intended to build on some day. That day occurred in 1996. We added a 12' addition to the entire length of our house, adding a sunroom onto the kitchen/dining room, and made our bedroom 26 x 17. It includes a stairway that leads to the basement where we have a large hot tub. Wow! Now I know what it's like to have a large bedroom. It still is in the 80's though, with wallpaper. I still love it, but know it's terribly out of date. The biggest problem is the walls on 1/2 the room are textured like when we built the house, I believe they call it egg shell texture. The other 1/2 is flat finished. I want to tear off all the wallpaper (sorry Mom - you worked so hard getting it up there)! And sand off the texture, then paint the walls. I want to keep the white carpet and we have recently gotten a new bed, so of course it stays. The repurposed furniture in the room still works, so want to keep it too. If you get a chance, look it over and tell me what you would do. I'm open to suggestions, especially low-cost ones! Thanks for helping me out!!!!!

Love seat recovered by a friend.