KiwiLane Basic Sketch-Challenge #2

We have thunder and sleet today, so I decided to make a 2-page layout using the KiwiLane basic sketch for this week.   For todays project, I just used some paper that I have had for a while although it was difficult for me to choose several different patterned and colored paper that would coordinate for this layout.   I find it so much easier for me when I have a kit that already has coordinating papers.   Enjoyed being creative today. 

First and Last T-shirt Quilt

When my youngest daughter was about twenty, she gave me some of her t-shirts and asked me if I would make her a quilt.  I put the shirts in a box and put them in one of my closets.  So, ten years later I took the box out of storage and decided it was time to make a quilt.  I previously made a rag quilt during January and I said that it was going to be my first and last rag quilt.  Same goes with the t-shirt quilt.  I am not much of a seamstress although I was trained in college to teach sewing.  My skills tend to be on larger sewing projects like making curtains and I have even made some slipcovers.  When it comes to more intricate work, I am not very precise.  This t-shirt quilt is definitely not perfect.  I had a hard time matching the strips and squares when I sewed them together.  And also, the binding was giving me trouble.  When I made the rag quilt, I had no trouble with the binding on it, so I don't know why I had so much trouble with this present project.  Showed the man of the house the finished quilt, and he said, "That is really a great idea and it turned out very nice".
He also has his projects and is now painting some of our furniture with chalk paint.  He is making the furniture look brand new and I love every piece.  So, we are always complementing each other's projects.
The following are pictures of the quilt.  I used lime green fabric for the backing that I bought at www.warehousefabricsinc.com for under $3.00 a yard.  I love their fabrics.  I am a good customer.
The t-shirts used were some high school, but mostly college t-shirts.  There were also several Hard Rock Café shirts that Leslie collected on her travels.  I had to back the shirts with iron on interfacing and I'm not sure that worked that great.  After adhering the interfacing I remembered that I hadn't prewashed the brighter and darker shirts, so I washed those squares several times so they wouldn't fade when the quilt was washed.  I noticed that the interfacing did not adhere to these after being washed.  Hopefully since the interfacing was sewn to the edges of each square, it will be okay.  Well, here is the quilt.  Notice how Katie the cat has to check out the quilt.

Kiwi Lane DT Doodles 2014 #4

Another sketch from Kiwi Lane.  I loved the result of using the templates on this 2 page layout.  I used wonderful paper from a company Sassafras which I don't think is in business anymore.  With the Kiwi Lane templates, I can gather all of the supplies, paper and templates and complete a page without having to leave my table.  This saves me time, also.  The following layout has pictures of  2 of our grandsons and our daughters who came to visit for their Poppa's 64th birthday.

KiwiLane DT Doodles-2014 #3

Another sketch from KiwiLane.  I was able to use paper that I received in a warehouse box sale from "My Little Shoebox".  The collection is "Destination".  I don't think that this company is selling paper anymore but it sure is cute.  I received the warehouse box about a year ago and now I am determined to use it.  Here is the sketch:

This sketch was fun and of course every layout that I create, I learn something new.  I learned that when I use printed paper with the templates, that I might have patterns that will be upside down unless I am careful when cutting.  (I hope I remember this next time!)  I don't do perfection so I am still happy with this finished layout.

 

 



Kiwilane DT Doodles-2014 # 2

The following is the sketch for Kiwilane DT Doodles-2014 #2

 

The templates that I used are the following:

 

Cascade Trails 3A and 3B

Chevrons 2A

Floral 1

Floral 1T

Wildflower 2

Wildflower 5T

Shapes 3T

 

My daughter gave me a Basic Grey "Infuse" paper collection pack for Christmas.  Beautiful roses and greens.  I used Stickles to add some sparkle. 

 

 

DT Doodles-2014 # 1

The following is the sketch for the DT Doodles-2014 #1:

 

I used the following templates:

 

large brackets 1 and 3

Aspen Court mini 2A and 2B

Floral 2T

Tags 1

Rings 3 and 4

Chevrons 1A and 1B

 

 

I am cutting it close to the deadline but here it is:

 

 



 

My king-size bedspread

I decided that I wanted to make an easy king-size bedspread so I looked on line and found the directions to make a rag quilt.  Sounded so easy so I gave it a try.  I used three different coordinating fabrics and cut them into 10 inch squares.  I sewed 3 of the squares together and then stitched an X from corner to corner.

 

The next step was to sew the squares together.  With this quilt you sew the squares where the seams will be on the front of the quilt.

 

 

The next step was clipping all the seams.  Since this was such a large quilt, I spent hours clipping the seams.  It was so hard on my hands and they ached every night.  I did wear a pair of my winter gloves to keep from getting blisters on my hands.  Besides the sore hands, I had bits of string all over the house.  This really was a messy project.

 

 

 

The next step was adding the binding.  I searched on the internet and found a tutorial on how to bind a quilt.  I first sewed one edge of the binding to the quilt and then I had to hand sew the other edge.  Hand sewing is just something that I have never been able to do very well.  And the hand sewing on this quilt took me two days!

When I finally finished the binding, I took the quilt to our local laundry place and washed it in an extra large washing machine and then dried the quilt in a dryer.  The quilt was just too large for my home machines.  The following pictures show how the quilt looks after the seams fray from washing and drying.

 

 

 

I wanted a rustic quilt that had some bright colors.  The man of the house said that it looked like an old quilt and that is just what I wanted.

 

 

In summary, I am just so happy that this quilt is finished!