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.

I'm a Wonderama snake can winner Briegel, George and Bob and a TV Dinner

This quilt is for a lovely young woman who just graduated from Washington and Lee University. It seems like just yesterday she received this pillow as a sophomore and now she is done!

Like most W&L Generals, she was very involved.  She is a Kappa Delta, a member of the Traveller committee, a soccer player etc.  She is from the Bluegrass State so of course was very excited about UK basketball's championship season this year. 

I kept the pockets on both hoodies which made for longer blocks. The blue sweatshirt was small so I actually detached the ribbing and then reattached it to obtain the necessary length.

We used a pair of Trident lounge pants for the Trident and ΚΔ appliques, the outer border, and the binding.  I was hoping for wider borders but there was only so much fabric from the pants despite carefully picking out the seams.

Like so many of her fellow alumni, the recipient is going to be serving the community.  She is going to be teaching kindergarten.  Shaping young minds is such a responsibility but I am sure she will do a great job.

With Payne I stand sane and remain holding strong Whilst all around me those who clowned me are now drowning by the throngs

The recipient of this full-sized Fennel is a very recent graduate (as of yesterday!) of Denison University.  A couple of years ago, he received a Denison/Phi Delt pillow.

This is obviously a quilt for a guy as you can see by the choice of denim for the sashing and borders.  The recipient is a Phi Delta Theta, a lacrosse player, a communications major, as well as a parasailor, etc, etc.

I added a bit of 3-D embellishment by keeping the hoodie pocket and buttons but had two new challenges to incorporate the polo shirt collar in the picture above as well as keeping the V of the Carlsberg Soccer shirt in Row 5. The polo shirt were worn by the communications majors during their broadcasts.  Once again, a felt banner was used which was added to the Denisonian block.

The long vertical Denison was taken from the leg of a pair of sweatpants and the two thin blocks just to the left are from athletic shorts.

One thing new was the choice of material for the backing.  Usually I use a quilting weight cotton or flannel but this time, I was asked to use a Denison sweatshirt blanket.  Because the blanket was much smaller than the quilt top, I added borders of the denim.  This was a very heavy quilt!  I was a bit worried that the crest of the blanket would be mangled by all the quilting but it came out fine.  Phew!

Watch Your Step

Apparently if a Denison student steps on the college seal embedded in Chapel Walk in front of Swasey Chapel, he or she won’t graduate. Students walk around it, bike around it, skateboard around it…you get the idea.  Good thing he didn't get the quilt until AFTER graduation!

All I wanna know is when is checkout time So I could be in heaven with the rhythm rock rhyme

Checkout time was way too early.

So if you're feeling strong, then reach for yours, My book is my shield and my mic is my sword, sword, sword...

This quilt was made for a lovely young woman who works in the same office as the other law quilt recipient from last month.

The recipient is a Cavalier from the University of Virginia. Like other southern schools, Pearl Girls are a major fixture on campus so I used a pearl motif fabric for the background of the UVa logo as well as the ΑΧΩ greek letter block. UVa colors are orange and blue which I was able to address with the blue and orange butterfly border fabric.

While at UVa, she pledged Alpha Chi Omega.  AChiO's colors are green and red so it was a bit challenging to find fabrics in those colors that didn't scream Christmas. Alpha Chi Omega doesn't have a mascot at the national level but several individual chapters use the butterfly. The lyre in the upper left corner of the quilt is their symbol, similar to the Kappa Key.

Most people know that Thomas Jefferson designed the campus from nearby Monticello.  And if you step on the Grounds unaware of that factoid, you certainly will know it by the time you leave.

How many UVA students does it take to change a light bulb? 

One - he just holds the bulb and lets the world revolve around him.

He goes by the name of the D-D-D-Disco Dave

This Watercress wallhanging was made for an attorney who practices law in the Commonwealth.

 
This gentleman started out at Hampden-Sydney College where he pledged Phi Gamma Delta aka FIJI or Phi Gam (depending on geography).  Unlike most fraternities and sororities, Phi Gamma Delta doesn't allow their greek letters on anything but their crest so I didn't make a block with letters.  I DID however, incorporate their color of purple, their white owl mascot and their black diamond with the white star symbol all in one block.  The sashing between the blocks has a palm tree motif which of course hearkens to the FIJI tropical isle theme.

I had a little bit of football themed fabric from another quilt which was perfect for the borders as this Tiger played football at Hampden-Sydney and yet still maintained a high enough GPA to get admitted to the top-tier law school at Washington and Lee University.

The logo for Washington and Lee University was made with fabric that have the W&L trident as the design. The background of the Hampden-Sydney block is a tropical batik again referencing the FIJI connection.  Because the recipient practices law, the scales of justice were appliqued onto a background of books.

 
Hampden-Sydney College is a unique treasure of a school located about an hour west of Richmond in a very rural area.  It is one of the last 3 all-male colleges in the country.   Yet every time we have visited on the weekends, there is no shortage of gorgeous young ladies out and about.
 
How many Hampden-Sydney students does it take to change a light bulb?
Five, one to actually change the light bulb, and four to figure out how this could get some Sweet Briar girls to come over.

I'll take a little shout out to my dad and mom (yeah) For bringing me into this world and so on

This quilt is a nice lapsize bargello style design.  Nothing fancy, strictly utilitarian.  The recipients have a gorgeous burnt orange bukhara in their media room so the fabrics were chosen to coordinate with the persian carpet.