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.

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.

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.

On location, touring around the nation Fitz Family always on vacation

These two quilts are memorial quilts dedicated to a special husband and dad.   The father's favorite souvenir was a shirt from wherever they traveled.  As the father was an USAF officer, I incorporated many patches from various military units and uniforms on both of the quilts.

The first quilt was made for the daughter.  Both dad and daughter are UVa Cavaliers which is commemorated in the patch in the left column. This patch was actually the front section of a baseball hat.  Both dad and daughter were big Redskin fans.

 The second quilt was made for the son.  Since he still has the same surname, his quilt has the family coat of arms in the top row as well as 2 blocks celebrating the family's Hibernian heritage. I also added the various patches from a Falls Church High School hat.

The son's quilt had a fabulous backing made from a cotton with large scale motorcycles in various colors.  It would have been great to have them driving around the front of the quilt but they were too large so to the back they went.  Unfortunately the photograph was very blurry so it couldn't be included.   An all-purpose patriotic star design was used for the sashing/borders and binding.

Sweet and sour like a tangerine Fresh like a box of Krispy Kremes

 This Lavender Lapsize quilt was made for a young lady about to embark on her college adventure.  She was a Chantilly Charger from the class of 2013 and is about to become a Radford Highlander.  This was an interesting quilt to do as the girl loves purple so we wanted to make sure that the sashing fabric was not too close in shade to the various purple shirts.

Like a lot of high school girls in Northern VA, she wanted to include a hand-painted shirt in her quilt. She must be a huge Justin Bieber fan as she made a shirt showing the Belieber Infinity symbol. The shirt is in the upper left corner.

 Haha, who knew Krispy Kreme made boxers as well as doughnuts?

Praying mantis on the court and I can't be beat But, yo, Tip, what's up with the boots on your feet?

This quilt was made for a recent graduate of Lake Braddock Secondary School.  She was very involved in many different activities and her mom had a hard time winnowing the shirts.  I think she made great choices of what to include!

The recipient was an avid cheerleader, lacrosse player, camp counselor, and more.  She is matriculating to Longwood University so we included a shirt from her new school.

Several of the squares are made from her own designs. A vibrant pink and green floral was chosen for the sashing and binding.  The backing was made from a soft purple flannel to keep her warm in college.

And next in my long-running series of Virginia college jokes:

How many Longwood students does it take to change a light bulb? None, GE hasn't located this place yet.

Hurricane, you got clout Other DJs, he'll put your head out

In between our epic week of two not-so-disastrous natural disasters, I completed a quilt for a young man who is bound for George Mason University.  This Tarragon consists of 20 tshirts in a 4 x 5 grid. A blue batik was chosen for the sashing and borders.

Like his older brother, this newly-graduated senior was very involved in high school. He was in DECA and is an excellent athlete.  He is also an avid sports fan. One of his uniforms that was provided was a mesh vest worn over a black tshirt. Both layers were imprinted with the team name on the right breast and if you look closely you can see the team name through the little airholes.

We went a bit different for the backing this time.  3 Robert Kaufman coordinates were pieced together to make a very unique design.

I love these prints, especially the referee print with the little grey dots that look like the breathing holes in real ref shirts.

Go Patriots!

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.

Lavender II

Another Lavender laptop quilt was made for a female high school runner. This Lavender was designed as a 4 by 4 grid of 16 blocks. One block (Row 2 of the right-hand column) had a very long design so we shortened another block so the long design wouldn't have to get cut off.

In the left-hand column, 2nd row you will see 3 mini designs sewn together as one block.

The sashing fabric is very appropriate for this quilt theme as it depicts female runners (and a couple of guys) in a race.

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.