Campy Memory Quilt

Well, I was determined to push through and finish up the quilt top for the 3rd memory quilt tonight.  For new readers, these four quilts are being made with my grandfather's shirts, who is in the end stages of Alzheimer's.  These quilts are for his four sons (one is my dad).  Now that we're all up to speed, check it out!

I hate that the picture is inside, but it was either use an inside pic, or miss all of the fun Friday finish parties.  I'd rather be partying, thank you very much!

My goal with these four quilts is for each to have a different feel that matches a bit of the personality of the recipient, but to also be unified as a set of four quilts.  Plaids can take on so many styles, and I'm shooting for campy/woodsy with this one.  I think the Kona Biscuit sashing and this take on a giant log cabin block lends itself to this feel.

If you missed the first two memory quilts, you can check out Western Kaleidoscope HERE and Bricks and Mortar HERE.

A couple of hours at my sewing machine was just what I needed this evening (even if this shirting fabric is tough to deal with).  Can't wait to get this one quilted this weekend!

Memory Quilt #2

Last night I worked into the wee hours of the morning to finish the top for the second memory quilt.  I was inspired by the Colorbrick quilt at Stitched in Color, but I had to adjust the measurements to maximize the oddly shaped shirt fabric.

I'm planning to baste it today (the bane of my quilty existence) and start quilting on it this evening or tomorrow after church.  

I'm not as enamored with this quilt as I was with the first memory quilt, the Western Kaleidoscope, (although it is growing on me) and I've been looking at it trying to figure out why.  I think it's because overall, it's a much darker quilt.   The kaleidoscope had the tan background, and was just more interesting to look at in general.  This definitely has everything to do with the fabrics though, and not the pattern.

After this, I still have two more of these memory quilts to complete, but as I mentioned in my initial post about this topic, I only took 12 shirts to begin.  Since those shirts actually made two quilts (I only expected them to make one), I feel like I'm ahead of the game.  Thankfully, I won't be able to get more shirts until I go back to Baton Rouge, and that will be at the end of July.  Although I feel a little bit guilty for saying this because I know these are special quilts, I am tired of looking at manly plaids.

One thing's for sure- I'm expecting a fat eighth bundle of Marmalade fabric by Bonnie and Camille in the mail today and I am certainly ready to get back to some girly, summery, fun fabrics!

Western Kaleidoscope

I finished the first of the memory quilts made from my grandfather's western shirts this afternoon.   This quilt will go to my Dad, and I could not be happier with the way it turned out.  When my mom first mentioned that my grandmother wanted me to make quilts out of western shirts, my immediate thought was "how am I going to make it cute??"  Although I'm not a typical girly-girl, western plaids are certainly not fabrics I've ever attempted.  That being said, I knew it was important to her, and that my Dad and uncles would really appreciate these mementos of their father.

Like I said, I am so pleased with the way it turned out, that I couldn't resist a little bit of cheesiness in the photos, and pulled out my extremely old cowboy boots for the photo-op.  They look right at home next to this quilt, and I'm totally embracing the cheese.

I backed the quilt with Kona Coal and put a wide stripe of chambray through the middle.  I stippled the quilt with tan thread to blend with the sashing (Kona Parchment) on the front, but gave a nice contrast on the back.  I have to say that this wasn't the easiest to quilt.  Although these look like all flannels, they aren't.  They are men's dress shirt fabric.  Some of these shirts were very soft and thin, so it made it tougher to quilt (and now that we're on the subject, a real pain to piece too).  I chose Kona Rich Red for the binding, and I think it just sets the whole thing off.

*by the way, I opted not to use any of the shirt pockets on this quilt.  When I laid them out, it just took too much away from the kaleidoscope illusion.

It was difficult to find the right wording for the label of this quilt, and I'm still not sure I succeeded.  It was tricky because even though I made the quilt, it is a gift to my Dad from my grandmother, and made from his Daddy's shirts.  That's three people on one quilt label!  Here's what I came up with-

For Wes-

a gift from your Mother

handmade with love from

your Daddy's shirts

by your daughter, Kelly

June 2013

(when I made the label, I didn't think I'd get it finished before June.  May 30th is close enough, ha!)

Frankly, it's all stitched down and quilted through, so at this point, it is what it is.  I played around with lots of different ways to word it, and I honestly don't think there is a less wordy way to get all of that on there.

I love that I've had the opportunity to make this quilt for my Dad (and by proxy, my grandmother), and I hope he really loves the manliness of it.  I know he'll appreciate the memento of his father for years to come.  And, although I won't pretend that my grandfather was the greatest communicator, I'd like to think that if he were himself, he would approve of what I've done and be proud.

I'm calling this quilt Western Kaleidoscope.

I'm entering this in Quilting Gallery's weekly Quilter's Show and Tell.  The theme this week is Memory Quilts, so I thought it would fit right in!  Starting tomorrow (5/31), swing by and vote for my quilt.  At the time I entered the quilt, I had not yet decided on a name, so it is titled "PaPa's Western Shirts" in the Show and Tell.

Here's the link-  Quilter's Show and Tell.  My quilt is titled "PaPa's Western Shirts" there, since I hadn't decided on the name yet.  :)