Well, I am Ms. Peri, I'm very On, rock the microphone, and then I'm gone

This was a blast from the past recipient!  Many years ago, I created quilts for two brothers,  My son and the recipient's sons had been in the same Boy Scout troop but of course all the boys are now well into adulthood pursuing careers and raising families.  

The recipient had an aunt who handpieced and hand appliqued this cheerful springy quilt top many years ago.     The quilt top had never been put together as a quilt. It was in fairly good shape despite the passing decades.  Unfortunately it was cost-prohibitive to quilt this beauty by hand so the recipient opted for machine quilting.

We appliqued a simple label to the back reading as follows

: 

Hand-pieced and hand-appliqued by Pauline "Aunt Polly " Miller in 1960.

Went to the prom, wore the fly blue rental Got six girlies in my Lincoln Continental

This full-size Fennel quilt was made for a recent West Springfield High School graduate who definitely marches to the beat of his own drummer.  At his high school prom he ditched the black tie,pants, and patent leathers for  a gingham bow tie, Sperrys and Chubbies. The jacket and dress shirt stayed on.

Pictures at the date's house.....

                                                                                       ......picture at National Harbor

This was a boy who went to MIT in the summer to study ultra-cold atoms,

ran cross-country and track,  refereed travel and house soccer (note the v-neck and the collar of the uniform remained intact).

Served as a class officer and in the student government, was in FBLA and DECA (yet another hoodie shirt)

and still managed to work a part-time job (tan rectangle was made from his Panera visor).  There will have to be another quilt for just his Scout paraphernalia as there was no more room in this quilt.

The quilt ended up quite large which is perfect for a twin bed in college that's been lofted with bed risers or cement blocks.  I had made the recipient's sibling the same size quilt years before and she told me the quilt was big enough to hide all the stuff stored under the bed.  It measures approximately 90" by 106".  This is taller than the room where the quilt was photographed so it is a bit wrinkled at the bottom.

This client asked to add a sweatshirt hood to the quilt.  So not only is there a hanging sleeve, the leftover hood from the DECA shirt did get sewn into the binding.

The client thought this would make the quilt extra cozy for the recipient's dorm room.

Be Prepared

Be Prepared,
That's the Boy Scout's Fighting Song
Be Prepared
As through life you march along....

This quilt was made for a Scoutmaster who was passing on the torch after 4 years of leadership.  I incorporated 3 Scout Class A shirts, a Class B shirt, a pair of the old twill pants, and two pairs of twill shorts, as well as neckerchiefs, patches, etc.

The design is an elongated Moon over the Mountain design. I appliqued the patches on the Mountains (or  Scout tents :) ).  The borders are made from the shorts and pants. I kept the pockets/buttons on all the clothes to add visual interest to the quilt.

Fennel I

The Fennel is a quilt that sizes nicely on a full-sized double bed. It also works great for a college twin bed that has been slightly lofted with cement blocks or those plastic cup riser things that you can find anywhere that sells dorm supplies in August. The extra width hides whatever the student is storing underneath the bed. Fennels are usually grids of 5 x 5 or 5 x 6. This Fennel was based on a 5 x 6 grid but 3 shirts (column 1 top, column 3 middle, column 5 bottom) had designs that were longer than the grid, so I used mini-designs from the front of shirts, or in some cases the mini-logos from the recipient's shorts.

In any case, this Fennel was made for a female high school graduate, who also was a Gold Award Girl Scout, Governor's School Student, Girls' State Delegate, a varsity athlete, officer in several school clubs, and was involved in state and federal politics. These quilts are like mini-resumes. I learn so much about the recipient based on the provided clothing.

Tarragon II

Tarragons are twin-sized quilts ranging from 20-24 shirts that would result in a grid of 4×5 or 4×6 shirts.

This Tarragon was commissioned for a recent high school graduate who is off to college this fall. This young man is a talented athlete playing baseball, lacrosse, and football. He also was in marching band, DECA and….I'm saving the best for last…he is an Eagle Scout! Some of his baseball shirts had either patches from the Little League/Babe Ruth organizations or the two-button neckline. I was able to include the buttons and the patches on several blocks. The recipient is very into military history hence BDU fabric was used for the sashing and binding. He also is fascinated by frogs so a vibrant amphibian fabric was chosen for the backing fabric.