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Making connections with t shirt quilts


I know that t-shirt quilts aren’t considered to be the most glamorous form of creating in the quilt world, but they have always held a special place in my heart.  The first quilt I ever made was a t-shirt quilt.  And I definitely won’t post pictures of that quilt here (I had no idea what a 1/4″ seam allowance was or that knit fabric stretched when you sewed it…), I still have the quilt and use it often.  Honestly, you could more appropriately call it a blanket.  But I digress…

I want to talk about this fabulous t-shirt quilt I was asked to finish for a customer.  Her son attended the same high school that I went to, ran cross country and track (as I did), and attended the same University!  This person was 5 or 6 years behind me in all these things…nevertheless, making this quilt was almost like making it for myself.  His mother even embroidered symbols from the university to put as cornerstones on the border of the quilt.  It turned out really cool!
I love seeing t-shirts being re-purposed, and it is really cool to see how many were saved and the duration they were saved for! 


Here is the finished quilt–It was so much fun getting to work on this and think about my college days (and I seriously can’t believe that was 10 years ago!!!)

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My first Quilting class to TEACH!


Many of us sewing enthusiasts dream of one day being able to actually do this for a living…am I right?  I didn’t realize that sewing and creating brought me so much joy until a few years ago.  Now I wonder how I ever did without it.  I wonder what I did with my free time with no project waiting for me in the other room.  

This past week, I visited with a local store owner in the San Antonio area.  It’s a new quilt shop in Boerne, TX, called Sew It Fabulous.  The owner is ridiculously awesome!  She is allowing me the opportunity to teach a beginning quilting class on August 2.  

And this is a portion of her shop’s newsletter.  I’m so excited to do this, even if it turns out to be a one time thing.  I hope that I can help other people to become excited about sewing–because I know how frustrated those first stitches can make a person.  I remember when I first started using my little rinky dink Singer and how all of my seams would be off and unfinished, and I was still so proud of myself for what I had made.  

Last week, I also prepared a step-by-step tutorial of how to do the wall-hanging applique project that I had posted about (spent hours on it!), only to find that when I went to upload it that this host does not allow you to upload PDF.  GRRRRR.  I will find another way to post the tutorial, because it really is a great project-even for beginners.  So I guess this post is mostly just an update that I WILL post the tut…eventually!  More to come soon!

Joanna