September 22: More Rag Quilt Sewing and Clipping, Plus EQ Time

I can't show you the rag quilt I am working on yet because it needs to have a little element of surprise for my little buddy's birthday.  However, I want to show you that I really must love the child because this thumb is raw from clipping.  I think back to when Kevin offered to buy me an Accu Cut and I told him it was not necessary.  I am almost done and ready to wash and dry, but my thumb says we are going to take a break very soon!

I am working up some designs that will help me take 19 + 1 t-shirts and turn them into a full-size quilt.  My friend Ronda, in Tennessee, asked me to consider it, and I am feeling up for the challenge, but not until the end of October. I am going to finish up Aleah's place mats and napkins; then there are some other quilt tops and table runners that have been waiting very patiently for me until we arrived in Vermont.  Now they are beginning to chatter every time I enter the studio.  I want to avoid the moment when they start screaming even when I am sleeping.

Because the t-shirts are all women's small, I can't just cut them huge and make it work.  The first one design has very large borders and sashing, but might have smaller ones if I can cut the t-shirts a little bigger than I am thinking.  The next one works but the designs might need to be tipped different directions.  The other two work, but the t-shirt portion only measures about 10.75 inches square. Removing the borders only ups the squares by about an inch.  I know the colors are not what one would think of as my normal choices but I was playing and know that orange is one of the school colors. 

Anyone else ever try to make 20 t-shirts into a full size quilt?  If there were 40 shirts I would do it without sashing, extra colors or large borders, but using the woven interfacing and cotton fabrics, will make construction simpler and more stable, so I am willing to work with what I am given.  Once I actually find out what the largest and smallest designs measure I will work to make the measurements more exacting.  Love playing with the EQ6!

Tomorrow we are headed to a wood show, but I will blog at some point in the day.  I am taking my hand quilting and my computer along for the drive.  There is a very strong possibility I will also be taking the 5th book in the Chesapeake Shores series written by Sheryl Woods.  (Jamie, Dad seemed to think that I should limit reading these to one or two a week since I get so involved, but I will probably always be that kind of reader.  Thanks for contributing to my delinquency!)