Five-O caught me, now I'm going to the mountains Said goodbye to my girl, my lawyers, and accountants

This quilt was made for a recent (as in 2 days ago!) graduate of Loyola University in Maryland.  He has lined up a job with an accounting firm post-graduation, no mean feat in today's economy.

 The recipient was a Salisbury School student before graduating from Episcopal High School.  He played soccer and lacrosse in high school and was a member of the NCAA Loyola Greyhound Soccer Team.

In addition to playing sports himself, he is a huge sports fan, loving his hometown teams: the Ravens and the Orioles. 

The back of his quilt was made with an Orioles fleece blanket and a Loyola sweatshirt blanket with a bit of Ravens corduroy thrown in to stabilize the stretchy fabrics.

My trademark is to incorporate architectural elements of the garments whenever possible.   I have used pockets,  hoods, buttons, collars, etc but this is the first time I was challenged to use a zipper.  The Ravens corduroy peeks through when  the warmup jacket is unzipped.

The bottom of the block (cut off in the picture) is from a pair of Tommy Hilfiger boxers.  The recipient has a family member who works for this designer and always gave him the best prints.

So what if I'm a Hamm and cheese on rye? I gots to do my thing and that's no lie

  

This tote was made for a USAF NCO wife.  She wanted something bright to contrast with the subdued colors of her husband's ABUs.

Between the Alexander Henry home dec fabric used as the interior lining and the Hoffman cotton used on the exterior sides, it should be vibrant enough! The interior pockets are actually double pockets.  The side one has the dual pen holder from the uniform sleeve as well as a larger pocket that can hold a cell phone. The rank that was on the uniform sleeves was sewn to each of the narrow sides of the bag.

The interior pockets are actually double pockets. The side one has the dual pen holder from the uniform sleeve as well as a larger pocket that can hold a cell phone.  The pocket on the wide side is made from two uniform flap pockets which then create a third pocket.

Came out rapping when I was born Mom said rock it 'til the break of dawn

This Thyme Tote was made for a woman who just gave birth to her first child last night.   Her colors for the nursery were orange and blue so I tried to coordinate the bag with that color scheme.

The majority of the exterior of the bag is made from the recipient's husband's Air Force ACU shirt. The side panels are a modern print and the handles have a crazy orange motif from Hoffman. I added the rank to the base of the handles.

The fabric is a vintage 70's print so it may be older than the proud parents.  The interior of the bag is very roomy and will be able to hold all the baby accessories that these little ones require.  The large pocket is actually a triple pocket (one big one and 2 ACU ones side by side).  The smaller pocket is a double pocket made from the ACU pen holder from the sleeve of the uniform and can fit a cell phone so it doesn't sink to the bottom.  This bag is definitely not too feminine for Dad to carry. 



No soft sucker with a parrot on her shoulder 'Cause she's bad, gettin' bolder, cold-cold, getting colder

This fullsize Fennel quilt was made for a fairly recent Washington and Lee University graduate.  Besides being a sister of the Zeta Tau chapter of Kappa Delta (ΚΔ), this young woman tutored her peers, raised money for Cystic Fibrosis and other philanthropies, studied abroad in Europe, and graduated with honors. 

Her quilt was a bit different as she wanted to include the front pocket design in a column by themselves.  No problem!

 

There were many, many fun shirts representing all the great times she had at W&L.    





Only at W&L do you have to worry about your mom and dad on Parents Weekend!

Of all the W&L items I have created over the years, I believe she has the record for tridents with 4 different shirts in the quilt.  My personal favorite is below.  The design of this one is actually a collage of several of the programs from different Fancy Dress decades as it was designed for the hundredth anniversary of this event.

WHAT IS THE FANCY DRESS BALL?

Think that other school down the road has a cool librarian? Think again! Fancy Dress is W&L's annual black tie ball that was started over 105 years ago by the campus librarian, Annie. (The library card catalog system is also named after this hip librarian!) Over the years we've seen everything from Colonial balls to 2010′s "Moulin Rouge." And with a budget rumored to total $80,000 it's no wonder party goers forget they're still in Lexington. Regardless of the theme, one thing is for sure, Fancy Dress is W&L's favorite social event!

The other ΚΔ/W&L quilt that I made recently was for a girl who graduated the year after this recipient and thus they overlapped by 3 years.  However they have different fond memories as there was not one shirt that was chosen by both women to be incorporated

The Vinall decision is perfection and precision She's grade A class, number one in her division

This is the third of the trio of quilts that were made for three lucky sisters.

Like her two older sisters, this girl played lacrosse all through high school and now in college.  She ventured out of state and is now studying at Dickinson College.

As she did with the older two, mom saved lots of fun shirts from the girl's childhood from Disney characters to tennis, golf, basketball and of course lacrosse themes. She chose a jelly-bean fabric as the daughter is a huge fan of that candy delight

Dickinson Drama!
Legend has it that if a student treads on the college seal embedded in the middle of Britton Plaza, he or she won't graduate. I am sure this young lady will be too smart to risk that.

She's got the savior faire because she's debonair, Well, M Dub with the Vinall, with the grooves so rare

This is the second of the trio of quilts for the three sisters.  Like the eldest, the middle girl is also an excellent lacrosse player and plays at the NCAA level for the University of Mary Washington.  Additionally she was on field hockey, tennis, soccer, basketball and swim teams.

Mary Washington, or "M Dub" as they apparently call themselves was founded in 1908 and named for the mother of our country’s founding father. The University of Mary Washington has built a rich history of traditions and academic excellence.

How many Mary Washington students does it take to change a light bulb?
The whole student body, there's nothing better to do on weekends.



The needle's in the groove and the Vinall's on the platter. I know that I'm fly, man, there's no need to flatter

This is one of a trio of quilts I made for 3 sisters.

All 3 girls are excellent athletes, participating in lacrosse and swimming throughout their childhoods and  high school.  The oldest sister also played Division 1 lacrosse at the University of Richmond, very time consuming and impressive!

I believe this quilt set a new record for number of shirt emblems in one quilt.  I was able to squeeze  11 NVSL All Star logos into one block. The mom wanted non-Halloweeny arachnid motifs since Richmond's mascot is the spider but she found high heel fabric for the borders and sashing as the recipient is now working in Manhattan and is in pumps and suits.

My favorite block in this quilt is this one below,  I love the smiling shark and apparently this now-sophisticated young lady, former jock laxer, was originally a Barney fan! :)

How many University of Richmond students does it take to change a light bulb?

Two, one to mix the martinis and one to call the electrician.