Is your name Michael Norton? No mine's Clarence.

The recipient of this queen-sized quilt is the sibling of two previous clients.  He is both an Oakton High School and James Madison University alumnus. He was a typical student having summer jobs, running track in high school and joining Sigma Nu at JMU.  His bio-brother is also his fraternity brother which made him a legacy.

The mother wanted to incorporate more than just t shirts.  The two following pictures depict blocks made from his preschool tote bag.  Obviously the recipient was a big Thomas the Tank Engine fan back in the day.

The borders of these blocks were made from a dress shirt that both boys wore when they were little.  The brother's quilt also uses this gingham.

Nick Norton, Sigma Nu, and Mr U-V

This quilt's recipient is an undergrad alumnus of the University of Virginia  and earned his Master's of Architecture at California Polytechnic State University—San Luis Obispo.  The older sibling's graduation from Duke had been commemorated here.   

 

The recipient and his brother are members of Sigma Nu, albeit at different universities. 

When choosing the backing, I used UVa fabric and a fabric depicting commercial buildings.  Although this was a home decorating weight material, I really thought it was appropriate for an architect's quilt.

 

Brothers out there with sisters, peep it Years and years you try to keep her a secret

In celebration of a successful formal recruitment at the wearers' school, I am finally posting pictures of a joint order.  Apparently at this university, the Chi Omegas do a lot of functions with the Sigma Chis.  So much so that the ΣX boys are little brothers and the ΧΩ girls are the big sisters.

This is much different than in my day.  While my sorority definitely tended to pair with certain fraternities at my university, it was not a formal joining.  We were free to affiliate as individual members of fraternities as Little Sisters. Favorite guys of our sorority were called Keymen rather than Little Brothers. 

In any case, the Chi Omega is a Sigma Chi Big to a specific Sigma Chi and he is correspondingly the Chi Omega Little to her.  ΧΩ colors are red and yellow and ΣX colors are cobalt blue and yellow.  I assumed they would want yellow as one of the colors as it ties in with both of their groups but they decided to eliminate yellow entirely and go with each of their other colors ie the red and cobalt.  They also wanted the big/little relationship embroidered on the sleeve.  My machine does not have that capability so the embroidery was done by hand using a running stitch.

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.

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.

 

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.

This pillow is for a good friend of a Michigan Chi Omega. The recipient is a member of the Alpha Chapter of Delta Zeta at Miami of Ohio,   The ΔZ and  ΧΩ were camp counselors together up in Maine.

The recipient enjoys outdoor activities. Not only did she love camping, she was an avid soccer player and excellent equestrienne as evidenced by the blue ribbon..We used a pine tree print for the piping to represent the camp experience.

There are also pines that were from a hand-painted camp shirt.  Although a New Yorker at heart, she and her family love Boston Terriers so we made sure to include the flannel print as well.

Father, we are thankful, May we ever be, Mindful of Thy blessings, We of K.K.G.

The title is the Kappa Grace as the recipient is a Kappa Grace as well ie a girl named Grace who is a alumna member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Chapter.  She has a very sweet boyfriend who is also an owner of a Rosmarinus Designs quilt and pillow.

The recipient is a graduate of Walnut Hill School where she studied ballet.  At Indiana University, she was involved not just with Kappa but also with the IU Dance Marathon and IU Ballet Theatre.

Several of her shirts had t shirt pockets.   Most t shirt quilts I make incorporate the architectural elements of the garments.

The long block in the middle was made from a knit scarf.  Kilroy's on Kirkwood is a major hangout for Hoosiers.

Although we stuck with a basic blue for the sashing and binding, I was very excited to find a vibrant owl print for the backing.

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. :)

With a harmony and a pair of vowels, heed the word of the owl- HOOT

This pillow was made for a Chi Omega who initiated at Washington and Lee.  W&L upperclassmen sponsor incoming freshman and she was paired with a student who had attended the same prep school.

 

The Worcester Prep Mallard logo was from a hoodie sweatshirt.  It was backed with interfacing as it would be for a quilt block to minimize stretch.

 

The W&L Trident side was made with uniform skirts from Worcester Prep.  The green plaid is worn by the upper school girls and the middle school girls wear the grey.

There for the blue of the sky and the sea and they bind our hearts so true.....

This is another multi-year accomplishment from the Kappa Needleworkers.  This is an interest group of the Northern Virginia Alumnae Association of Kappa Kappa Gamma.  These ladies get together once a month to put a quilt together (that's why it takes a couple of years for each one to be completed). This quilt is hand-pieced, hand-appliqued and hand-quilted.  After the quilt is completed,  it is raffled for an entire year to raise money for Reading is Fundamental (RIF), the Kappa Kappa Gamma philanthropy.

It's time to turn the Paige to a brand new chapter Settin' my sights and you know what I'm after

This quilt was made for the sibling of a W&L KD.  The recipient is a University of Virginia Cavalier and a member of Zeta Tau Alpha.  I loved, loved, loved working with these shirts as so many had awesome slogans and great designs.

The recipient asked for polarfleece for the backing as it would make it extra-warm for her cold winters where she was relocating.  Polarfleece provided more loft which really profiled the quilting.

This recipient is not only a ΖΤΑ, but also a member of the UVa equestrian team and a graduate of the McIntire School of Business.

 

The pics for this quilt were taken by my crazy kid who thought these angles would bring a unique perspective. 

Haha, I think his photographer days are numbered.

Tight bodies, I'm rousting. Karate chops and roundhouses

This quilt was made for a Denison University alumna to celebrate her baccalaureate status.   Like so many other recipients of my quilts, she was very involved during college.  She is a member of Delta Delta Delta, a Resident Advisor, an intercollegiate soccer player for the Big Red, and in her free time, a marathon runner. She continues to give back to the community by serving in the Teach for America program,

 

As usual, I kept the collar and buttons of the polo shirt to add some dimension.  I love the black and red print that was used for the sashing and borders. The recipient's style is both urban and sophisticated  so this contemporary fabric fit the bill.

I couched the Tri-Delta graduation cord to the upper left corner and appliqued her karate belt to the lower right.  I tied the belt in the specific knot that is used by martial arts students.

She studies real hard, all night she'll cram In school she majors in advanced Delta Gam

This was probably the most fun albeit most challenging quilt I have made to date.  It is for a Salisbury University Delta Gamma who just happened to have graduated summa cum laude. It was just a couple of years ago that she received a Delta Gamma/Salisbury pillow for Christmas.

I included tons of different textiles to include 3 satin graduation stoles representing the recipient's study abroad experience Down Under, her membership in Delta Gamma, and her membership in the honor society Phi Kappa Phi ΦΚΦ.

 

We also couched two honor cords on the top border.  Obviously the blue and gold one was for Phi Kappa Phi. I'm not sure what the 2 shades of blue cord represents since Delta Gamma colors are pink and blue.

The recipient had six sets of stitched letters to incorporate into the design.  You can see she  combined her two loves of DG and the Baltimore Ravens in the bottom set.  The OC Parasail design was originally black and white but I hand-tinted it so it wouldn't be as bland.

SU trivia:  Originally the school was called Salisbury State University which of course people nicknamed Salisbury Steak University.  The name was changed to Salisbury University around the beginning of the millenium.

The back of the quilt was made from a college sweatshirt blanket and two Vera Bradley throws.  The quilt label was inked on a pair of SU shorts.  The front sashing/border print was made from two Vera Bradley sarongs.