T-SHIRT QUILT, MEMORY QUILT

A friend of mine wanted to give her high school graduating son a memory quilt that he can reminisce through his childhood years.  Not having enough confidence to complete the quilt, I gladly offered to make it for her (even though I had all the confidence in the world she could have accomplished this task).  You see, she's visited a few times and along with a few other gals, we spent some time crafting and learning how to sew and she wanted to make this for her son.  Unfortunately, her schedule got a "tid-bit" hectic as graduation day approached and really, there wasn't enough time that would allow her to finished the quilt as scheduled.  Lucky for me, she did all the cutting and interfacing.  Personally, I think that is the hardest part of it all!  She dropped off the perfectly cut T-'s and together, we managed to finish it in the nick of time...one week before graduation day which  make it possible to have the blank block that was reserved for signatures from his family, teachers and friends to be filled in.....Congratulations "Mr. K"!  Hope you enjoy your quilt in the years ahead and wish you all the happiness and success in the world!

I found my inspiration on T-shirt/memory quilts a few years ago while watching HGTV's Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson.  I was actually watching something else and left the television on.  When I returned to the living room, Alex Anderson had a Special Guest talking about recycling out-grown apparel to quilts.  This is where I also learned about rag quilst which is how "Mr. K's" quilt was constructed.  The fringes will become more soft and "fluffy" as it is used and washed.

Of course as I was making the rag T-shirt quilt, I remembered a bin of T-shirt squares that was prepped a few years ago for my son.  With a few hours here and there on my good old faithful Jan (my Janome sewing machine), wallah, it got completed:

Oh the memories of each block....

If these blocks could talk, what would they say? 

Kalaeiki baseball camp for youths that pushed the purpose of academics and good sportsmanship:

 

A football T from my talented neighbor who played football for the local high school (#7) and the World Cup when it was in San Francisco:

Oh, this was a trip to a neighboring island and we tried the new burger joint with the kiddos:

A restaurant at I think, Newport Beach, Cali a few years back...they had delish food! 

Uncle's VW shop....

For the second quilt, I made it differently from the traditional quilt where there's a backing, batting and then the top pieces.  Instead with right sides together, I sewed the top piece with a 1/4" seam around the edges onto fleece leaving a gap about 8" wide for turning.  Once the corners were clipped, the quilt was turned and the gap was hand-sewn closed.  This method seemed much easier for me.  Machine quilting a large piece on a traditional table-top sewing machine is not my cup of tea so this seemed to be the route to take until I can "perfect" my quilting techniques.

Do you have a sentimental item that takes you back through the years?