T-shirt Quilt: Part 2

February 17, 2020February 19, 2020 SewtropolisLeave a comment

I made another t-shirt quilt this week for a friend of mine’s daughter!

I love how this one turned out! Once I had the t-shirts we scheduled a call to go over what her daughter wanted. She pretty much left the design up to me, but knew that she wanted the borders to be a gray… and that she wanted the backing and binding to match.

Some of the shirts were smaller (child size) so I had to ‘build up’ some blocks to make them large enough.

When laying it out I thought it would be cute to have Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse looking out across the quilt to each other.

I quilting it using a longarm, and super fine thread that blends in so nicely with all the blocks.

Like I said, I’m really happy with the way this turned out. this quilt is about 55″ x 55″ and I used about 15 t-shirts (a few front and back) to make it. I have my listing up on Etsy if you’d like to your own t-shirt quilt.

Starting with the last thing I made…

June 25, 2018 SewtropolisLeave a comment

I tend to go in and out of this blogging thing. For years I used to keep a journal, and even with that there were times I was more consistent than others. Now that I’ve challenged myself to sew my clothes for 2018, I thought I would blog my makes as a way to remind myself of what I did and any modifications etc. End of June seems like a good time to start doing that! HA!!

So, this top isn’t the last thing I made… but it’s the thing I’ve been the most happy with and that’s saying a lot since I’ve been really happy with my makes lately. (finally!)

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I think this makes me so happy is because it reminds me of my Memorial Day weekend in Victoria, B.C. with my friend Jennifer. We had to much fun!

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While in Victoria we did our own walking tour of the downtown area, stopping in to see the Empress Hotel, Totum poles and even walking along the waters edge – before heading out for a whale watching tour.

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Whale watching was amazing! We saw 3 humpback whales, two adults and one younger. They bobbed along and once in a while we would see a tail come up out of the water – which was very exciting – but not as exciting as seeing them breach! (photo taken using my iPhone7+)

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The next day we walked around Buchart Gardens (amazingly beautiful) and visted the China town district.

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And afterwards did a little shopping at Fabric Land where I purchased this beautiful aqua and black polyester crepe fabric.

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Of course I had no idea what I would make with it, but it was just too pretty to pass up. I purchased two meters of it thinking it would be enough to make a top of some sort.

After I got back I decided to make Simplicity 8138, mainly because I already had the pattern in my stash, and I really wanted to sew something I could wear during the warmer weather we were having at the time.

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I combined view B and view C. I liked the ties, but not the slit on the sides of view B. And I liked the flare of view C. I’m really happy with the way it turned out and I didn’t have any modifications other than my standard lengthening. I’ve worn it a couple of times in the past few weeks and each time it reminds me of that weekend in Victoria. Good times, Good times.

Till next time!

Adventures · Projects

Fifty Years and a Jacket

October 14, 2016October 14, 2016 SewtropolisLeave a comment

This past week I flew out to Minneapolis to celebrate my 50th birthday with my friends. I normally don’t care to celebrate my birthdays. Not that I’m against them, but they are a reminder to me that time flies way to fast…. and I’m kind of obsessed with the concept of time. (don’t get me started).

I wanted to celebrate this birthday because I was in a new city and I wanted to ward off those sad feelings of turning older and not celebrating in some way. I haven’t met too many people here – so, I flew to Minneapolis where I knew enough people who I knew would celebrate with me.

I stayed with my friend Jennifer and on Saturday Jennifer, her mom, and I spent the day in Stillwater, MN at their Fall Festival (which would not be a big deal were it not for the biggest pumpkin contest!)

We couldn’t have asked for a better crisp Fall day! We walked the vendor catwalk -I bought a pillow made with bamboo fibers and let me just say – YES!! We stopped in at Darn Knit Anyway and had lunch overlooking the St. Croix River. It was such an enjoyable day with two of my favorite people!

My party was held in a small Irish Pub near my old neighborhood. The party was small, but my friends who were there laughed and talked and had a good time…. and that’s all I ever want for my friends. I was amazed that friends who had never met – had other friends in common. Everyone sews or quilts so I guess that makes the connections even easier.

I want to thank my friend Jennifer for all that she did to make my day so enjoyable! I love you girlfriend!

Okay, onto what I’ve been working on. First, let me say, so sorry for the very poor lighting. I had no way to take pictures of myself outside so I bought a small tripod… and since I received it it’s been raining when I want to go out and take pictures.

Anyway, here is the jacket!

The pattern is McCalls 7199, I started out making version C with the toggle closure, but when I tried it on for toggle placement, I decided I liked it better without the toggle. The fabric is a sturdy ponte knit which I love, but the front is self facing so having 4 layers (6 if you count the pockets) makes it a little front heavy. I obviously don’t care – there’s so many other things I like about this jacket: it’s longer in the back and almost covers my bumm, it’s comfortable, it has pockets, and it’s versatile! I’ll definitely be making this jacket again.

Adventures · Projects

Floating Down the River

August 5, 2016August 5, 2016 SewtropolisLeave a comment

This past weekend I flew out to Minneapolis to spend a few days glamping with my friends. I won’t get into the fiasco with the missed flight because it all ended well and I was able to get to where I needed to be – just a few hours later.

I arrived in Minneapolis early Friday morning and had breakfast with son #2. We ended up going to Waffles and Black Coffee in the U-District. I highly recommend this place for the waffles! I ordered the Strawberry Shortcake Waffle and OMG it was so freaking good! I didn’t think I would be able to eat the whole thing – but I was wrong! I ate the WHOLE thing and didn’t regret a single morsel of it! Sorry no pictures of the waffle – but I took one of the Chai Lattee they gave me! How cute it that?

Glamping was in Lanesboro which is about 2 hours south of the Twin Cities. It’s a cute little town, rolls up during the winter, but during the summer there is people all over the place enjoying tubing on the Root River, biking along the trails, camping, shopping and even a theater group that is actually really good!

The picture below is of son #2, my BFF, her daughter and her mom and step-dad! When I talk about my Minnesota family – this is who I’m talking about!

One of the gals in our Glamping groups lent me a trailer for the weekend and let me just say – if I ever sell Athena, I might just consider getting a trailer with a pop-out! Wow! There was SO MUCH room – it was like staying in a mobile home! I love how she made it all homey for us! She even put out a scency candle and linens!

We drove back into Minneapolis early on Sunday so I could have lunch with both my boys before I had to catch my flight back to Seattle (I wasn’t about to miss another flight!). I won’t get into the slobbery cry session when I left or how much I miss them – if you are a mom – you get it! Even though they are men now, they will always be my boys.

I can’t yet show you the hand project I took with me to work on. It is a ‘commissioned’ piece and because it’s not finished I don’t want to ruin the surprise for anyone. I will say though that it is a crochet piece – and was super easy to tuck in my bag and work on during the flight to and from Minneapolis. I’m curious, if you are a quilter what type of projects to you bring to work on when you can’t bring a sewing machine?