Hear the beat of dancing feet, It's the song I love, the melody of Forty-Second Street.

Many of the recipients of my quilts have seen my work elsewhere and then want something created to reflect his or her life.  This quilt was no exception..The person who received this quilt was a classmate of a fellow LB Bruin.

We decided to veer away from the typical sashing grid design by making the quilt look like a Broadway Playbill. while sticking to a twin/tarragon size.  Both fonts were sized up to scale. The letters for the larger word were appliqued onto the yellow background.  The smaller word was drawn with permanent fabric markers.

Most playbills usually have white borders but since this quilt was headed off to college, we went with grey as it would be easier to keep clean.

This shirt was designed as a plain white shirt with the black lettering.  The kids involved in this show had wanted to tie-dye the shirts but never got around to it.   I drew a rainbow on both the big design and mini design using permanent fabric markers.

FBI and the cops keep all filing Who protests the war and who they're dialing

This quilt was made for one of the most unique multi-faceted individuals I have ever met and this quilt depicts just a few sides of her most interesting life.

The recipient pledged the Central Michigan Zeta Rho chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Incorporated as an undergraduate student.  AKA was the first sorority founded by and for African-American women.  Currently there are 4 NPHC sororities in existence.
 

The middle section was made from a large silk scarf.  This had to be sewn with kid gloves as it was a very fragile fabric.

Although I am a Kappa Kappa Gamma and NOT an AKA,  I love their choice of pearls as their official jewel and the color scheme of pink and green.

The recipient was also an FBI agent for many decades.  When I was asked to make the quilt, I made sure she included one of those awesome windbreakers with the gigantic letters on the back.

Because she is an associate pastor at the historic Shiloh Baptist Church which was actually founded during the Civil War in Confederate Virginia, I made sure to incorporate some fabric with religious motifs.

She was a Webster University academic advisor for several years and still is one of Webster's adjunct faculty members.

This is the fabric we used for the back of the quilt.  These whales are just as cute as can be and the color combination is perfect for an Alpha Kappa Alpha or a Delta Zeta project.

We're giving you soul power I like it sweet and sour When it comes to lights and set designs I'm at the control tower

This t shirt quilt is one of the few that doesn't involve athletics.  Most of the recipients are either lovers of sport teams or athletes themselves.

 

This recipient is a Theatre Design & Production and Stage Management major at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.  I don't know if they have a specific name for the drama-related majors but if he was at my alma mater Carnegie Mellon, he would be known as a dramat (emphasis on second syllable).  He was the set designer and overall technician for many shows at his high school and received quite a few Cappie Awards for his work.

The shows with which he was involved ranged from Orwellian serious drama and Japanese plays

to Broadway musicals and children's favorites.

This young man is a formidable talent and it wouldn't surprise me to see him awarded a Tony in the next decade or so.

I'm flowing prose to cons and cons to pros I'm like Toucan Sam when I follow my nose

 

This quilt was made for the first child of parents with very eclectic tastes.  The parents are big fans of Dr. Who and Star Wars as well as being birdlovers of the toucan species.

Making a tardis quilt took some work on graph paper but as it was all rectangles or squares, it was not terribly complicated.  Instead of pure white fabric that would have better emulated the warning sign, I found the I Love Mommy/Daddy fabric in blue shades.  It also comes in pink for girls.

 

The two upper windows of the police box revealed parrot fabric which is as close as I could originally find to actual toucan motifs.Then I discovered that Kelloggs Cereals had licensed their characters and I was able to find a Toucan Sam polarfleece which made a great backing.

 

I was also able to find a small tardis repeating design fabric for the lower panels.  It was a very stretchy Lycra so it had to be backed as I would do with a t shirt.  This quilt had a variety of different materials. The parrot windows, the planet background fabric, the Police Box sign (which I actually used Star Wars designs) are all cotton.  The warning sign and the cobalt blue are flannels.  And as mentioned before, polarfleece and Lycra were also incorporated.

I wanna be a Pi Beta Phi. Boom, Boom, and honey that ain’t no lie.Boom, Boom, I wanna be a Pi Beta Phi. Don’t you, don’t you, don’t you, Won’t you?

This quilt is made for a very loyal alumna of Bradley University. She pledged the Illinois Theta chapter of Pi Beta Phi as an undergraduate and is currently very involved in her local Pi Phi Alumnae Association. She also is a dog trainer extraordinaire and volunteers with her pets at local hospitals.

 

These shirts are quite vintage but they were in remarkably good shape.  Most of the sorority shirts I come across nowadays are t shirts that commemorate a formal or mixer.  I haven't seen a football jersey letter shirt in years except of course on this circa 1980s shirt quilt. :) Of course fraternity little sisters are not allowed anymore either.

 

The athletic teams at this university are known as the Bradley Braves.  The recipient was able to find a tiny applique patch of the original mascot.  The Native American mascot was ultimately considered offensive and is no longer in use.  They currently use the same team name but the mascot is a gargoyle.

 

It's Vicky who certs VA, to cert VA every day It's Vicky, it's Vicky (Vicky) Vicky (Vicky)

This quilt was made for a longtime Webster University employee who recently retired. She worked for Webster National Capital Region for over 16 years.

As well as being a Gorlok, the recipient was a military wife of a career Marine.  These two Americans met in the most romantic way.  He was posted to the US Embassy in Paris and she was a student at Le Cordon Bleu! The BDU block (bottom row, center) was the husband's uniform shirt. The pockets weren't quilted down so they are still usable.

In their free time, they raised and showed Briards, an ancient breed of herding dog originating in France.  They both love all canines so much that they eventually opened a day care for dogs in their home.

The main responsibility of her position was to deal with our Post 9/11 beneficiaries.  I saved this shirt from a 2010 VA Conference for this quilt I knew I would have to do some day.

The back used a Marine-themed polar fleece and a coordinating national colors flannel. 

I drink Brass Monkey and I rock well, I got a campus on Brookley, that's where I dwell

This is a needlework depiction of the former BAFB/now JBAB Education and Training Center on Brookley Avenue.  All the design but the flag was cross-stitched or embroidered.  The appliqued flag was from a flag motif fabric that happened to be the perfect size ratio.  It was made for a Cornell alumna who worked at one of the schools at the Ed Center from 2000-2002.

Just back from Japan and ooh I'm laggin' Goin' rao rao with the dungeon dragon

This is different than my usual projects.  The recipient had a gorgeous sashiko (Japanese embroidery on indigo) jacket that she bought in Okinawa.  I wish I had thought to take a picture of the jacket as it was quite lovely.

The recipient is redecorating a guest room with a blue and white theme so she thought the sashiko jacket could be repurposed into pillows. We added a blue and blue batik for the contrast fabric which is quite appropriate given that she is a Kappa Kappa Gamma alumana.

The first pillow was from the front of the jacket.  I sewed the opening down so there wouldn't be a gap while leaving the frogs and coordinate in place.

This was a basic 4-patch using 8 inch squares. I really loved how the batik coordinates with the sashiko embroidery.

To provide some visual interest for the bed, I made a bolster pillow with the two main fabrics.  I also added some cream lace to coordinate with the ecru fabric from the first pillow.

Down with Ellie and Caitie and you ain't And I got more juice than STAB's got Saints

This quilt is actually a quillow, a quilt that converts to a pillow. The recipient is a graduate of St. Anne's-Belfield, a boarding school in Charlottesville, VA and is now a student at Dickinson College.  The recipient's older sibling is also a recipient of a Rosemary Remembers quillow. The quillow incorporates swatches from her uniform skirt as well as organizational shirts.

The recipient was very busy in her K-12 years.  She performed in theatrical performances, sailed in regattas, participated on the cheerleading squad, served as a camp counselor, played a variety of sports. She is a well-rounded young woman and I have a feeling she will excel in her career choice of elementary teaching.

I run the DC race in a potato sack I put a whole potato salad right down your back

This quilt is for the wife of a dentist.  She is a runner extraordinaire competing in races from 10Ks to full marathons.  This is especially admirable considering she has 3 kids and is a physical therapist.

All of the shirts are from races in or just outside the District.  Consequently many of the racing designs incorporate images of gorgeous cherry blossoms or the stately monuments.  I found a fabric that evoked a feel of cherry blossom pink along with her favorite shade of University of Tennessee orange.

My "guest photographer" took the pictures for this quilt, hence the unusual angle of the above photograph.

Instead of putting a label on the back, we used some fun dental-themed fabric in one of the blocks that was signed by the husband and kids.