Here's one for the bleachers and the upper tier UVA All-Cavalier

This is the third quilt I have made for members of this familiy.  First was mom anf then the oldest child and now Kiddo #2.  Like most high schoolers in Fairfax County, the recipient was extremely involved with extra-curriculars while maintaining a stellar GPA.

The recipient is following his brother from Oakton High School to the University of Virginia.  Many UVa  as well as Oakton garments were used in the design,  There is a  Tennessee shirt as this is the alma mater of both parents.

The original lettering for the school name ran down the entire length of the sleeve, thus makin it too long to fit in a typical block.  Luckily the word divides into 2 syllables each with 3 letters and I was able to create an interesting layout.

This T. Rex shirt must have been worn when the recipient was a small child as the size was tiny.  I personally love this design as the dinosaur is so cute.

'm talking PGA. Pro Tour 2 I'm Attorney Beck on the TV in my golfin' shoes

This quilt was designed a memorial for the dad of the recipient.  His daughter had kept many of his shirts after his death but never put them together.  Her husband (the son-in=law) commissioned this as a Christmas present. 

The honoree was an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame and  Fordham University School of Law.   In addition to practicing law, he was a lover of golf, both as a player and spectator.

He also gave back to his community as a volunteeer firefighter in Larchmont, NY,

A lawyer was playing golf when he got hit by a ball. When the player came over looking for the ball, the lawyer said "I'm a lawyer, and this will cost you $5,000." "I'm sorry," said the golfer, "But I did say 'fore'." "I'll take it," said the lawyer.

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.

A nickname Wahoo , well, my faith is not Majus. Girlies on the tippy because my homie is Tejas

 This quilt was made for a 2023 graduate whose dad had originally commissioned a quilt commemorating the mom's athletic accomplishments nearly a decade prior to now.

The recipient is a graduate of Oakton High School and is now a first-year at the University of Virginia aspiring to get admitted to the McIntire School of Commerce.   Unlike other universities that admit students into a specific college as incoming freshmen, Cavaliers have to apply during their sophomore year to be accepted to the program.

He is an avid fan of all the professional Washington sports teams denoted by the fact that the parents insisted on all 4 polar fleeces being used for the back.  This made it a cozy quilt which was perfect for the miserable winter the Commonwealth has been having this year.

    As depicted by all his team shirts, he was on various sports teams as well as being a fan.

And Granddad, light up the place And if you pull my card, you pull the ace And if you ask me, turn up the bass And if you play defender, I could be your hyper space so

My parents have loved to play the board game Sequence with their many grandchildren for decades (oldest one is well into the 30s and youngest just turned 18).  So much so that I wanted to make a quilt for years but could never find playing card fabric that depicted each and every playing card without being overlapped AND would be a proper proportion.  

Just before the COVID lockdown occurred back in March 2020, I found a pattern on Ravelry that depicted the playing cards in Tunisian crochet.  I had never tried this technique and this was a BIG project so I gave myself a huge completion window for my father's 80th which occurs in February 2023 but ended up giving it to both my parents this Christmas.

There were some changes.  The crocheted card designs are drastically simplified as compared to real playing cards. The  wild card space in each corner was changed to a NY Yankees logo as my mother has been a fan all her life despite moving to Boston for college at 18 and remaining there the rest of her life.

Finally I changed the border to reflect the family surname rather than the word sequence plus the treatment of the jack card.

This was the first post;COVID Christnas we celebrated with everyone.  My brother's family flew in from Australia and the oldest grandchild just had twins a couple of months ago.  

And there's a magic in the sound of their name Here come the Irish of Notre Dame

I recently had the pleasure of creating a memory quilt for a brand-new University of Notre Dame alumna.  Hailing from Oakton High School in Virginia, she spent her last 4 years in South Bend.  The client wanted a puzzle piece design with multiple size blocks as opposed to a traditional t shirt quilt with sashing between the blocks.

The recipient was very involved in multiple activities, completing several several marathons and other road races as well as being a member of academic and athletic clubs.

Because Notre Dame does not recognize social fraternities or sororities, dorm life is very important to students. They are similar to houses at prep schools.

Like the vast majority of current students and alumni, the recipient is a HUGE fan of the Fighting Irish. Every year the alumni association creates a special shirt for Notre Dame football.  The fronts and backs of the 2017-2020 shirts are included in this quilt as well as a column of the mini-designs from the sleeves.  Despite making several Notre Dame quilts over the years AND the fact that my uncle is the stereotypical alumnus, I never knew about The Shirt tradition before this commission.

Meat Pie, Sausage Roll Come On Kearny, Give us a goal OOH, We Got a Corner!

The recipient for this full-sized fennel quilt played a LOT of soccer all over the world as well as rowing crew in the US.

I was asked specifically to applique the patch on this Stuttgart shirt as it indicated a championship for this team.

This block was a combination of sections from her Stuttgart Eagles UnderArmor shirt along with a front pocket design of the tie-dyed grey shirt.

Singlets or middies are too narrow for a full block due to the armhole cutouts.  Hence I added red knit fabric so it could square off to the 14.5" block.

As always, I felt I really knew the recipient by the time I finished the quilt.

Circle circle, dot dot. I got my chemo shot.

Although at my age I don't recognize birthdays, this year I did celebrate the fact that I am a 10 year cancer survivor.  This quilt helps me remember that.  The quilt is a combination of block projects, all in bright colors.

 

My Worker Bees designed an exchange that required participants to make 12.5" blocks (any pattern) using dot or circle fabric. The block in the upper-right corner looks like just a solid white but it is actually a white and pale pink 9-patch.  No matter how much I fooled around with the exposure, I could not darken it enough to get a good image.

 

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I happened to have enough fabric from over 3 decades before from the Delta Xi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma's Greek Sing costumes.  I know we did songs from 42nd Street and I think we wore black leotards with cummerbunds made from pink and white polka dot fabric.  42nd Street became my favorite musical and my kids were subjected to the entire score throughout their childhood.

 

These two designs are a sample of the exchange blocks. You can see one was two simplistic swirls and another was a candy popper design.

 

When I got sick, I started getting super-cute 6.5" cupcake blocks around my next birthday.  They were sent to me anonymously through the mail and I loved each and every one.

A couple of months after the first post-diagnosis birthday, the American Cancer Society had come up with their One More Birthday campaign which made these blocks even more meaningful.

I actually had to use 2 green fabrics in this quilt as I did not have enough of either.  One was random swirls and circles on a bright green background, the other was a Kelly green calico from the 1970s that my aunt had given me when she was cleaning out a closet.

 

Although it was machine-pieced, I did hand-quilt the entire quilt which ended up being about 77 x 77 inches.

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.

 

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. 

Get in the game you gotta scheme All the same I've got the team

This quilt was a Father's Day present for a HUGE all-sports Cincinnati fan.  He follows the professional teams, the NCAA colleges, and even some of the high school sports.

 

 

 His wife asked for NO sashing between the blocks and wanted red borders despite the red t-shirt in the corner.

The tiger shows some microquilting on its nose.  Microquilting is done the same way as stippling but much closer, similar to the comparison of petit point and needlepoint.

 

A professor of science 'cause I keep droppin' it I smell weak 'cause y'all keep poppin' it

This quilt is for a Furman Palladin.  Like many college students she was very active in extracurriculars at school. 

 

She was a health sciences major and participated in several fundraisers for improvements to third-world countries.  She was an equestrienne, a runner, and a bibliophile.

My signature technique of incorporating the architectural element of the garment  ie the usable pockets was able to be incorporated once again. :)

To all the party people who are happy and free (free), with K Buck M, we're making history.

This quilt is for a recent Fighting Irish alumna.  Like most Domers, she is an avid football fan and was the proud owner of MANY season and bowl game shirts.  Not opting for sashing between the blocks makes a very different look.

My trademark has been to keep what I call architectural elements of garments when possible.  The zipper hoodie square is quilted only on the perimeter, leaving the middle open so the shirt can be unzipped to see the 3 mini designs hidden underneath, 2 of which were from her academic department.

 

The bottom block was made from a nylon flag.  The recipient actually interned for the Discovery Channel while an undergrad. 

 

This is the Bengal boss inspecting my basting to make sure I am pinning the layers correctly.

I put the pen to the paper and I went off. I'm dropping knowledge and wisdom like a mad head dog

This was a memorial quilt for a beloved pet.  Portia was a flat-coated retriever who lived just over a decade. 46 of these very large triangles were neckerchiefs that she would get at the groomers. When I saw them all, I immediately thought that she had a better wardrobe than me!

The two triangles below are not part of the 46.  Portia's owner is a proud alumna member of Pi Beta Phi (Illinois Theta) and is very active in the Pi Phi Alumnae Association in her area. I needed to make 48 triangles to obtain a grid so I figured what better than some Pi Phi symbol fabric?

Portia was a canine volunteer for  Fairfax Pets On Wheels, a wonderful organization connects pets with people living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.  The blue neckerchief was her uniform when visiting shut-ins.
 

 

The block below came from a plain red neckerchief.  Portia's owner also owns a lighthouse and Portia had visited the lighthouse before her demise.   I hand-embroidered an image of this lighthouse to add a little excitement to this triangle.

Bertschire's A Flat Out Joyride 

"Portia" 

February 18, 2003 - May 11, 2013