Memorial Shirts - Colorful

I machine pieced this quilt on my Bernina 240.
I quilted this quilt on my Janome QMP-18 long arm.

Finished size: 54" x 70"

(click on photos to enlarge)

✫FINISHED QUILT:✫

Front piecing:  To memorialize a young lady's father, I used 14 different colored/patterned shirts that belonged to her dad to make 35 blocks, each 8"x8", in a 5x7 layout. I referred to the Fat Quarter Fancy II tutorial, but revised the block sizes to make them smaller. Instead of using a light constant, I chose a blue and purple fabric called "Beach Bubbles in the Ocean", by David Walker for Free Spirit (purple is the recipient's favorite color). 

I then added a 2" border of more "Beach Bubbles in the Ocean", followed by another border of diagonally set four-patches made from strategically placed colors of half-square triangles (using more shirt fabric).

The final border is 3" wide strips of shirt fabrics, again strategically placed to enhance the color flow of the quilt's overall appearance.

Back: The backing fabric is 3.25 yards of a lovely light green print called "Bree - Circles" by Nancy Halvorsen for Benartex.

Quilt Stitching: The quilting pattern is a block called "Capri Feathers", which I repeated and created into rows. 

I used a neutral tan thread called "Bone" (So Fine 50 #452) on the front, so the many different shirt colors would not be overpowered by the thread.

I chose "Fern" (So Fine 50 #445) for the back of the quilt, so that the stitching pattern would stand out.

Label: The label is laser printed onto cotton, which has been sealed with Rit ColorStay Dye Fixative and then sewn to the back of the quilt. I included a logo from a flannel jacket that belonged to the recipient's dad.

✫INSPIRATION:✫

I made this memorial quilt for the daughter of a dear friend who lost her husband just over a year ago. They were together for more than 3 decades. She has two grown children, and this quilt is for her oldest. She asked for something colorful and feminine, and gave me artistic license to create. While it was a challenge to incorporate so many different fabrics and colors all together into one quilt, she's very happy with the end results. 

I also made a memorial quilt for the recipient's brother, which you can see here.

✫PROGRESS PHOTOS:✫

Construction-Front:

This quilt top is made from shirts worn by the recipient's dad. The shirts are from several different fabrics: polyester shirts, rayon Hawaiian shirts, cotton dress shirts, poly-cotton blend polo shirts, cotton T-shirts, moisture-wicking shirts, pullover sweaters, and even a fleece jacket. 

This quilt ended up using 152 Half-Square Triangles (HST). The first 70 HSTs came from creating the 35 original 8"x8" blocks, by just sewing two additional seams on each corner.

But the next 82 HSTs were made one-by-one from different shirt fabrics, so that I could control the exact colors of each one in the border. Because there were so many different types of fabric to work with, some of the flimsier, thinner or stretchier shirt pieces required a layer of fusible featherweight interfacing to be attached before piecing, especially for the small 3"x3" HSTs.

Making all those HSTs called for lots and lots of sliver trimming.

Throughout the entire making of this quilt, I chain-pieced and pressed in multiples whenever possible.

I arranged and re-arranged the 35 central blocks many times on my design wall. I really wanted a certain look - a flow of shadows and colors - and it took a while to get the limited palette of shirt fabrics to work together in a way I found pleasing.

I finally ended up with this arrangement for the center.

After I joined the 35 central blocks in a color flow I liked, I really struggled with the borders. I tried with and without an internal solid fabric border, with saw tooth HSTs, with flying geese, and finally settled on squares set on-pointe, made from four-patches of half-square triangles in strategic color placements.

I was very careful when attaching the borders, using several pins to be sure the back remained flat after being sewn on.

To make the quilt large enough (I had a requested size to meet) I added 3" wide strips of shirt fabric all the way around the quilt, which corresponded to the color flows I had created in the center and the borders. In each corner, I even inserted a 3"x3" piece of blue jean fabric from the recipient's dad's shorts. 

Whew! This one was certainly a design challenge that stretched my brain a bit! I'll admit, the quilt was put into time-out a couple times, hanging all alone on my design wall behind a close door, until I could figure out a way to get it to look the way I saw it in my head. 

Quilting:

The backing and batting (I use Warm & Natural) loaded with the top floating on my Janome QMP18 long arm, ready to be stitched with repeat "Capri Feathers".

 I really like how the "Capri Feathers" added a soft, feminine swirl to the quilt's sharp lines and angles.

A total of ten wrapped, edge-to-edge rows were stitched. 

Trimming:

Squaring up the quilt after taking it off the long arm, getting it ready to prepare and add the label and binding.

Label:

Before the printed label was ready to be attached to the quilt, I used my Brother PE700 embroidery machine to attach a logo from dad's NFL fleece jacket.

Binding:

I did not have enough of the purple "Beach Bubbles in the Ocean" fabric left to make a complete binding. I really wanted that purple color to be used, to frame and tie-in the entire design. So I searched through my stash and found some strips of two different Tula Pink purple prints that worked well. The binding actually looked great with that little extra added scrappiness.

First attaching the binding strip to the back of the quilt...

...being sure to tuck in the label in the bottom center.

Then wrapping the binding around to the quilt front.

 For precise binding seam sewing, I use my Bernina 240's blind hem foot. 

Washing:

I machine washed this quilt with dye trapping sheets (I use either Color Catchers or Color Grabbers), to absorb any fabric dyes. All of the shirts used for this quilt were pre-washed, so I didn't expect much color to be "grabbed" from them, but the purple and green fabrics did release a bit of dye. After washing, the quilt is wrinkly, soft and lovable, ready to be used.

✫QUILT SUMMARY:✫

I machine pieced this quilt on my Bernina 240.
I quilted this quilt on my Janome QMP-18 long arm.

Finished size: 54" x 70"

Front piecing: Used 14 different colored/patterned shirts fabrics to make 35 blocks, each 8"x8", in a 5x7 layout, referring to the Fat Quarter Fancy II tutorial, with size adjustments. Added three additional borders from shirt fabrics and "Beach Bubbles in the Ocean" by David Walker for Free Spirit.

Back: Lovely light green print called "Bree - Circles" by Nancy Halvorsen for Benartex.

Binding: The binding is machine sewn, using 3 different scrappy purple fabrics.

Quilting: Edge-to-edge repeat "Capri Feathers" pattern. Front stitched with Superior Threads' "Bone" (So Fine 50 #452), back stitched with "Fern" (So Fine 50 #445).

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