Too much drama all around Distractions booming in sensuround

Yet another t shirt quilt but this time for a kid who marches to her own drummer.  Most of the t shirt quilts are set in a grid format but I was allowed to think outside the box. I made a gigantic outline of the state of Vermont and made sure all the garments could fit within the state.  Once the state was cut, I appliqued it on the background with binding tape as it was too thick to hem the edges.  I had designed a Commonwealth of Virginia quilt a couple of years ago but I was able to make a narrow hem without involving binding as Virginia was made from quilting cottons, not garment textiles backed with interfacing/

The recipient was very active in plays and musicals in high school.  She also attended Governor's School, a very prestigious opportunity for high school students.  Before she lived in Vermont, she lived in Virginia and I was able to dig up a shirt from her FCPS elementary school.

As most of you know, Vermont is a VERY cold state, especially in the area where the recipient calls home.  So not only did she have a cozy high school scarf to add to her quilt....

but also an old ski cap!

The recipient has now relocated to a warmer state (smart girl! :) ) for college and is now a member of Chi Omega at George Mason University.

I'm the lyrical, mathematical genius Splashing like lime juice, you've never seen this

This Fennel quilt was made for a high school graduate whose academic fortes are math and science. Her name begins with an M so the arrangement of the shirts somewhat reflects the initial.

Lots of high school and church related activities made for a nice bright quilt. Some of the shirts were hand-painted by the recipient. The carrot block looked a bit plain so the actual carrot was quilted with orange thread.

The back was somewhat wild.  The recipient's school's colors are orange and blue and the recipient's favorite color is lime green.  So lots of brights in those shades and others were incorporated for the backing. The bottom right square is green M&M fabric, again reflecting the recipient's given name initial.



Good luck M on all your future endeavors!

Semper Paratus

This combined set of the Parsley, Wasabi, and Chive was custom-made for a US Coast Guard wife.  The client wanted a nautical theme for her items so a sailboat fabric was incorporated as the primary coordinate.  One side panel of her Parsley was customized with her initials in signal flags.  The Wasabi had a Reef Knot appliqued to the outside of the wallet.

Sage I

The Sage is any size signal-flag quilt.  I really should call this category Seaweed since signal flags are primarily for maritime use but that would wreck my theme of naming my various project categories as herbs. 

Each block is 12 " square.  This Sage incorporated 2 rows of 7 blocks so that made 14 blocks total.  Instead of using bright solids like the real signal flags, the clients wanted prints and shades that coordinated with the decor of their home. So red turned into maroon fishing motifs, white led to cream floral, bright yellow was replaced with 2 different yellow florals, navy blue was substituted with a cobalt blue and black batik, and solid black was changed out with a party motif with black background.  They chose a sea green as a sashing.This Sage fits perfectly over the clients' couch.  I could see a single row of signal flags, perhaps spelling out a phrase or a family's last name, being used as a table runner.

Thyme I

I'm a decent needleworker but only a so-so-at-best computer geek. My fellow Tartans would be appalled as our school is fairly well known in the computer world. In fact, I just recently discovered that it was at Carnegie Mellon where the sideways smiley :) evolved. This was back in the days when we had bboards and computer labs instead of PCs or gigantic mainframes with cards. In any case, I am not so great at formatting these posts but I will keep plugging along and hopefully I will get better. Thyme marches on....

The Thyme is a tote bag that uses both the back and front of the uniform. This Thyme was made for a Coast Guard wife who incorporated the colors of her sorority by selecting two shades of blue (and yellow) for her coordinating fabric. With the additional yellows and the blues, this color choice would be ideal not only for sisters of Kappa Kappa Gamma (ΚΚΓ) but also members of Alpha Xi Delta or Sigma Gamma Rho. The recipient opted for an exterior side pocket so she could put a water bottle in it.

BDU shirts have 4 patch pockets with flap closures. My designs always use the two breast pockets on the exteriors of the Thyme, Marjoram and Pansy and I use the lower pockets in the interior of the bag. Since the Coast Guard utility uniform only has 2 pockets instead of 4 like the DOD service uniforms, I made interior pockets from the patches on the arms which I am assuming are there for reinforcement.