A Family Keepsake and NTT

Happy March, and happy NTT, y'all!  We have been getting a taste of spring around here, and I am loving it!  This week, I've been working on a very special keepsake quilt, made with a couple of my mom's old chambray shirts.  These shirts were hand embroidered by my grandmother when my mom was a teen, and my mom actually helped stitch some of the designs!  As soon as I saw the shirts, I knew this quilt needed to be made with Anna Maria Horner fabrics!

I started by cutting the shirts into useable blocks.  Most blocks finished at either 4 or 6 inches, except for Holly Hobbie in the center, which is a full 12 inches, and the row of penguins, which is 3" x 12."  Once I cut and counted the embroidery squares, I used the AMH fabrics to fill in around them, making 25 different 12" blocks.  The randomness works so well with the fun, quirky designs, and makes it look like the embroidery really belongs there.

I was even able to use the pockets, collar lapels, and the ric-rac from the bottom hem of the shirt.  Not a single bit of stitching was wasted!

You can see that these shirts were well loved.  The airplane and heart blocks were on the sleeves, and the lines you see are almost threadbare from ironing creases in them.

My very favorite design is the row of penguins.  On the shirt, they were marching from shoulder to shoulder across the back, and I think they are so cute!

I quilted this one with an all over meander in yellow thread, like blue jeans!  These shirts were very worn, so I didn't want to stitch the delicate fabric to death, but I knew that it needed enough quilting to stabilize it a little bit.

Lots of AMH leftovers went into the backing, and the chartreuse binding finishes it off!  The finished quilt measures 60" square, and I love how it turned out (my mom and grandmother do too!).  There are a couple of photos of my mom as a teen wearing these shirts while out on a date with my dad, and that alone makes this quilt special.  It's nice to know that even now, though the shirts have long been worn out, this beautiful hand work will have a new life in this quilt.

If you have some special fabrics and want to make a Keepsake quilt, I put together a graphic showing the finished block measurements to help you out (remember to add seam allowance when you cut!).  I color coded each block size, so it is easy to see how they all fit together.

Time to check out the features from last week's party!  This scrappy rainbow beauty is from Simply, Sarah-

and just look at this fantastic paper-pieced mini by Lori at Crossquilt-

and this modern pillow by Made by Chrissie D is just too much fun!  (ps- she has a tutorial for it!)

I can't wait to see what you're all working on this week!  Show me what you've got!

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