'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.

She DOES play that sport, sisters and lacrosse, Real talk, the dogs done finished her off.

Such a fun story: Over a decade ago, I created 3 quilts for 3 sisters who all played lacrosse at their local high school and respective universities.   At my initial consultation with the mom at her house, I vaguely recalled a little girl very interested in the process of designing the layouts.  The mother saved my contact information and 13 years later got in touch with me as the fourth sister had grown up and it was time for her quilt.  Thank goodness I hadn't changed my email address!

Like her older siblings, the recipient was an avid swimmer in her youth and played lacrosse and field hockey at Woodson High School.

She attended American University and is now a lacrosse coach at Lehigh University.

I think it is wonderful that her entire family were all excellent participants in the same athletic endeavor,

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.

And I've been k-kicking the new k-knowledge An emcee to a degree that you can't get in college

This is yet another Webster University Gorlok quilt.  I really loved making this one as I discovered an extra-fun design from Sew Adorkable.  Back in the day when our calculators could just do simple operations, we used to write words using the number pad and then flipping the calculator upside down.  Basically any word using only the letters B E H I G L O S could be written.  The girls tended to type in 0.7734 (when the fours used to be written with  2 vertical and one horizontal line rather than the modern 1 vertical, one horizontal, and one diagonal)   and the boys would write 58008 and variations thereof.

In any case, the recipient's name is Bobbie and of course her name can be written on a calculator.  She had several Webster World Works shirts with numbers on them and other Webster items as well.  Not all the numbers on the keyboard have an actual number shirt but she did have a mousepad we used for the decimal point key and the bottoms from drink koozies that were used for the dots on the division sign. I was also supplied with a couple of Webster totebags that we incorporated as well. 

 

 

The mousepad was difficult to applique and didn't look great when it was done so I embellished the circumference with a gold lace.  All the quilting was just machine-stippling.

 

 

And then someone snuck into my quilt studio and decided to help....

 

I  rarely take photographs of myself but our Main Campus asked the various departments to depict ourselves doing something fun and/or silly.  As I explained in the statement that was submitted with the pictures, quilting is fun for me and I know the design was silly but I couldn't resist as I am sort of a geek at heart.

The bass is booming from down below And Norton is chillin' with Mario

This queensized quilt is made for an Oakton alumna/current Duke Blue Devil. She will be getting married to another Duke grad shortly after graduation so this will definitely fit in their decor.

She wanted a more random layout than most so the blocks were cut in multiple sizes.   Neither sashing nor borders were desired so it was simply edged with binding.

This shirt was completely covered with quotes written in puffy paint.  This was a spirit shirt made with her cross-country team.  The quotes ran onto the sleeves so the block ended up being a fat apital T as opposed to the typical quadrilateral.  The recipient was also a swimmer so we incorporated her team bathing suit.

The recipient is very devout so in addition to the  shirts from religious camps and teen organizations, the backing was pieced as a basic cross in Duke colors.

Now, all night long Charlie rides through the station crying, "What will become of me? How can I afford to see my sister in Boston or my parents in Cincinnati?"

This Tarragon twinsize quilt was created last year for a future Northwestern Wildcat.  I had made pillows for his siblings and aunts and a quilt and pillow for his dad so now it was his turn!

 Many of the shirts were from his early childhood, not just high school.  I loved the fact that several of the shirts had transferred photographs like the beautiful Basset Hound you see below.  One of the blue mini-designs is from a neckerchief he wore at camp.

Amongst other activities Charlie played baseball.  I have no idea if this was a high school spiritwear shirt or from a Babe Ruth or JCC team but I DO know he was number 26.

The entire family are huge fans of the various Cincinnati professional teams.  The Reds shirt is from Spring Training in Florida.  I quilted heavily around the alligator so that the head would really pop.

I hope that this quilt has kept him warm during those frigid Chicago winters!

Down with Ellie and Caitie and you ain't And I got more juice than STAB's got Saints

This quilt is actually a quillow, a quilt that converts to a pillow. The recipient is a graduate of St. Anne's-Belfield, a boarding school in Charlottesville, VA and is now a student at Dickinson College.  The recipient's older sibling is also a recipient of a Rosemary Remembers quillow. The quillow incorporates swatches from her uniform skirt as well as organizational shirts.

The recipient was very busy in her K-12 years.  She performed in theatrical performances, sailed in regattas, participated on the cheerleading squad, served as a camp counselor, played a variety of sports. She is a well-rounded young woman and I have a feeling she will excel in her career choice of elementary teaching.

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. :)

I'm takin' the tours, I'm wreckin' the land I keep it hardcore because it's Coleman!

The dad of the Hanukkah pillow recipients liked their bolsters so much that his wife decided to commission one for him as well.

The love for all things Cincinnati runs in the family. From major leagues to the minors to the college and high school teams....

The wedges on the Indian Acres are from the Bar Mitzvah yarmulkes of the two sons. Not seen but also definitely included is the daughter's Bat Mitzvah covering.

 

The Basset Hound was embroidered on a towel, the Who Dey is the Bengals cheer.  That particular item is a hand-painted tie.  The striped piping is from long johns that were worn while skiing.

 

 

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.

Put on your yarmulke, here comes Hanukkah, Its so much fun-akkah to celebrate Hanukkah,

These bolster pillows were given to siblings on their first night of Hannukah,  The brother followed his sister to the University of Michigan where they are both Wolverines.

As usual, we were able to incorporate not just t shirts and sweatshirts, but also a Bengals fleece scarf, a silk tie and.a satin yarmulke. Both kids were very busy as it was difficult to include all the shirts.

The yarmulke was from the daughter's Bat Mitzvah.  The seams of the curved panels were undone and moved to 2 groups of 3 panels each.  We were then able to incorporate the polo shirt of the overnight camp that both kids attended as campers and later as staff.  The image doesn't show it as the light was too strong but the other white triangle was from the lining of the yarmulke which had been stamped with the Bat Mitzvah girl's name and date of the ceremony.

The son's quilt also used a camp staff shirt as well as the tie from his Bar Mitzvah.  The tie was in an actual tie shape in one end of the bolster and as piping for the entire bolster.

In the navy, come on and join your fellow man. In the navy, come on be bold and make a stand.

This quilt was made for a recent graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Jefferson is one of the top magnet schools in the country ie lots of big fish in a small pond. The recipient did not just excel academically, but he was a skilled athlete as well.  He was on both the football and wrestling teams and he was one of the founders of the power lifting team.  

He asked to include his varsity letter so we did.  I was a bit worried that the inclusion would make the quilt non-washable but it did fine.  I really liked the sixth man shirt as the words are different team spirit type phrases.

He is now the third member of his family to attend Annapolis. Plebe year is a tough road despite being a double legacy so I wish this young squid the best.

Q: What do Navy Midshipmen Football players always get on their final exams?
A: Drool.

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.

Jack, Luke, Ryan, that's our team. Step inside the party disrupt the whole scene.

These 3 bolster pillows were made for 3 recent grads of Worcester Prep.  The 3 recipients have been great friends all through the upper school grades.  All 3 are avid athletes on the field, whether it be lacrosse or soccer.

 

The school tie was used in each of the pillows.  From back to front, you can see it as piping, as vertical sashing, and finally as the focus on an actual shirt and tie block.  The right square on the back bolster was to designed to commemorate the uncle of the recipient.

 

In this block, you can see that I have now added yet another textile to my repetoire.  The left square on the front bolster incorporates a W&L Trident gym sock.  I love this recipient's mom.  She always comes up with amazing ideas and items.  The red sashing (vertical in the back bolster and horizontal in the middle and front ones) is actually from a Virgin Airlines blanket.  The senior class all traveled to Great Britain during a Spring Break and one of the boys brought home the airplane blanket as a souvenir.

 

The grey sashing is from the uniform pants worn by the male students.  Grey plaid and dark green plaid uniforms were also incorporated but they were from female student skirts .  The right block on the front bolster was to designed to commemorate the life of the recipient's uncle.

 

These fine young men will be attending Washington and Lee University, UNC-Wilmington, and Michigan State.