T-Shirt Quilt Makeover

Last year, I was asked to "makeover" a t-shirt quilt.  Now, I have to admit that I forgot to take before pictures, and that really bums me out.  Not because it was that bad, but because it was that bad!  (Sorry, Kelly!)

Kelly was in band and graduated in the early 90's.  And after she graduated, she took her band t-shirts, and kind-of cut them square, and haphazardly sewed them together with some other random fabric.  It was in rough shape...

So, I took it, and pondered what to do with it, since the shirts were neither square, nor all the same size.

Her school colors are black and orange.  I looked and looked for some kind of complimentary fabric, and finally found a black background fabric at JoAnn's with musical notes in multiple colors on it.  It was perfect!

But I still had the issue of random sized shirts...

I stabilized them (a definite must for t-shirt quilts!) and then took some of the black music fabric and sewed 1-2 inch strips on all sides of the offending shirts, and then trimmed them all to the same size.  Odd solution, but it ended up blending well...

OK, OK, OK.....  Here are the pics of the finished quilt, since I didn't take before shots:

Front

Back

Happy Recipient

With both of us

And this one she posted to Facebook laying over her sofa. 

She said that she has napped under it many times.  And that makes me happy...  And I learned that I actually REALLY enjoyed making this T-Shirt quilt.  I'd be happy to make MORE of these...  I've got to add one of these to my growing project list!

Have you made a T-shirt quilt?  Would you have one made for you?  It sure is a fun way to save memories and have something to snuggle under....

AMW

"Auntie Paula"

I don't really talk much about my family here...  We're the typical dysfunctional type and small in numbers...

The family

But this past week, we lost one of our own.  Suddenly and unexpectedly.

My "Auntie Paula" (as she signed all of my cards and emails) is my mom's only sister.  She has two daughter's both in their 20's.  Paula and the girls are very close.  While Paula lived in NC, the girls both got jobs in Tampa, FL.  Paula JUST bought a house down there and was making plans for her move there, as soon as she sold her place in NC.  But tragically, she was taken away before that day came.

Paula with her oldest daughter on her wedding day.

When you lose someone, you "remember" all kinds of things.  I remember when I was 14....  Paula lived in Jacksonville, FL.  She picked me up in VA, and took me to FL to hang out for a few weeks.  We went to St. Augustine, FL which is still one of my most favorite places because of that trip.  She also took me to Disney World for the first time, and as fate would have it, she couldn't ride a single ride with me as she had just found out she was pregnant with her first child!

She also made the best fudge ever.  She swears it's the recipe off of the cocoa can, but I KNOW she must have doctored it somehow.  It was something I looked forward to every single Christmas.  No matter where I was, she always made sure I had a container of fudge.

So beautiful, so classy, so loved!

She had a great sense of humor, and always sang a very off key rendition of happy birthday to me no matter where either of us were in our lives.

I do have many, many, many happy memories of her, and I'm very grateful for all them.

But honestly I'm so mad she was taken way too soon.  It's just not fair...

I'll miss her beyond words.

Rest in Peace, sweet Paula.

AMW