Make you bounce, rock, roll and skate Don't underrate how I operate

This was one of the most challenging projects I have ever designed.  The recipient was a competitive skater in her day. She provided 4 costumes, all of which were sequined, sparkly and very slippery. Although the fabrics weren't stretchy, I fused interfacing to the backs and fray-checked every cut edge to make them behave.

I knew that the patriotic vest and white lacy bodysuit would work well together.  I overlaid the vest on top of the blouse.  A strip of the rainbow outfit was used as a cummerbund. I wanted to include all the fabrics on each side of the pillow, so I created a gold medal out of the neon yellow costume.

The other side was a bit of a challenge.  I created pillows for this person in the past using crazy quilt designs which would have worked nicely.  However I discovered a quilt block called Marcie's Maze and given that the recipient was named Marcy, albeit spelled slightly differently, I knew this would make a great side.

Not only did I reposition sequins for this side, I also appliqued the name tags that had been sewn into the costumes.  I created the piping from the striped fabric as well. I originally wanted the yellow and the white to be reversed but it looked too much like sunny-side up eggs.

Pi Phi! Oh my! 'Cause them angels look so fly!

This queen-sized quilt was made for an alumna of Wake Forest who is now a law student at William and Mary.  As you can see, she also is a member of the Pi Beta Phi woman's fraternity.  Yay, Monmouth Duo!! 

This quilt incorporated some unusual fabrics. The Wake Forest fans wave around a Rally Rag (lowest row, center) at the games.  This is a small terrycloth towel. Apparently by joining the Screamin' Demons. students can pay $30 per season to sit in the student section of the athletic arenas.  They are given the black and gold tie-dye shirt (top right-hand corner) to wear at the games.

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I cut the greek letters from the extra fabric of the Screamin' Demon shirt. These letters are the same size as the letters that you would see a sorority girl wear on a sweatshirt or jersey. I satin-stitched both the white outline fabric and the Screamin Demon fabric with a stabilizer. The grey was from the back of one of the grey shirts used in the quilt

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
As usual, I kept anything 3-D on the blocks if possible.  I was able to retain the pocket on the hoodie block and the drawstring and buttons on the lounge pants.. I used surplus fabric from the lounge pants to make the large WF block.

The neckerchief  (center) had a very large design so it needed to be cut no smaller than 18" x 18".  T-shirt quilt blocks are usually 15" x 15" so I had to find 4 shirts that would lend themselves to be longer than normal and four that could be wider.  The fabric I chose for the sashing, borders, and binding was mostly black and gold but with touches of mauve and grayish-blue which are close to the Wine and Silver Blue of Pi Beta Phi.  I quilted this fabric with a light yellow thread which gave it a cloisonné look.



Wake Forest Watercress

This Watercress Wallhanging was made for a Demon Deacon alumna. The client (the recipient's spouse who also is an alum) provided 4 shirts but there were 9 motifs all together so we were able to create a 3 x 3 grid quilt.

Wake Forest's colors are Black and Old Gold. I used a gold paisley to size up the tiny motif blocks, a fabulous black/dark gold floral (Alexander Henry) for the sashing, and a classic gold and white toile (Windham Fabrics) for the backing. The client also wanted a hanging sleeve and a personalized label on the back.

Interesting Factoid:

Wake Forest has an unusual tradition of tp'ing themselves when they win a basketball game...the bigger the win, the more festooned the campus will be.   http://www.wfu.edu/athletics/traditions/