Friday, March 22, 2013

Came out rapping when I was born Mom said rock it 'til the break of dawn

This Thyme Tote was made for a woman who just gave birth to her first child last night.   Her colors for the nursery were orange and blue so I tried to coordinate the bag with that color scheme.



The majority of the exterior of the bag is made from the recipient's husband's Air Force ACU shirt. The side panels are a modern print and the handles have a crazy orange motif from Hoffman. I added the rank to the base of the handles.



The fabric is a vintage 70's print so it may be older than the proud parents.  The interior of the bag is very roomy and will be able to hold all the baby accessories that these little ones require.  The large pocket is actually a triple pocket (one big one and 2 ACU ones side by side).  The smaller pocket is a double pocket made from the ACU pen holder from the sleeve of the uniform and can fit a cell phone so it doesn't sink to the bottom.  This bag is definitely not too feminine for Dad to carry. 


Tuesday, March 5, 2013

No soft sucker with a parrot on her shoulder 'Cause she's bad, gettin' bolder, cold-cold, getting colder

This fullsize Fennel quilt was made for a fairly recent Washington and Lee University graduate.  Besides being a sister of the Zeta Tau chapter of Kappa Delta (ΚΔ), this young woman tutored her peers, raised money for Cystic Fibrosis and other philanthropies, studied abroad in Europe, and graduated with honors. 


Her quilt was a bit different as she wanted to include the front pocket design in a column by themselves.  No problem!

 

There were many, many fun shirts representing all the great times she had at W&L.    









Only at W&L do you have to worry about your mom and dad on Parents Weekend!



Of all the W&L items I have created over the years, I believe she has the record for tridents with 4 different shirts in the quilt.  My personal favorite is below.  The design of this one is actually a collage of several of the programs from different Fancy Dress decades as it was designed for the hundredth anniversary of this event.


Think that other school down the road has a cool librarian? Think again! Fancy Dress is W&L's annual black tie ball that was started over 105 years ago by the campus librarian, Annie. (The library card catalog system is also named after this hip librarian!) Over the years we've seen everything from Colonial balls to 2010′s "Moulin Rouge." And with a budget rumored to total $80,000 it's no wonder party goers forget they're still in Lexington. Regardless of the theme, one thing is for sure, Fancy Dress is W&L's favorite social event!

The other ΚΔ/W&L quilt that I made recently was for a girl who graduated the year after this recipient and thus they overlapped by 3 years.  However they have different fond memories as there was not one shirt that was chosen by both women to be incorporated