Emily's T-Shirts

Tenacity wasn't the only person to receive a quilt for her high school graduation. My husband's cousins daughter - Emily - also graduated this year. Her mom had been sneaking t-shirts away from her over the years and asked my mother-in-law and I to put them together in to a quilt for Emily. Bobbie and I jumped at the chance. Emily is such a beautiful, strong, kind, and funny person; we were honored to make her a t-shirt quilt.

We started the project this winter, during a quilting retreat at my house. Bobbie put together most of the top and I finished the top, did the backing, and quilted it. Bobbie then did the binding.

Here is the finished project.

The back was particularly special because it featured a t-shirt that Emily and her grandfather (Bobbie's brother) designed for a fishing tournament they were in. (Uncle Tom passed away a few years ago and we all miss him. We especially miss seeing him and Emily together. They had a special bond.)

This t-shirt makes me laugh so I had to include a special photo!

We traveled to Hazel Park, Michigan this weekend to attend Emily's graduation. Bobbie and I were excited to give her the quilt. She LOVED it. It make her cry which of course made us cry. Her mom was thrilled and insisted on hanging it up to display it during the party.

Emily is headed to Michigan State this fall where I am confident she will have a successful four years of college as a Spartan.

Fragments

One of the great things about quilt camp at Camp Tecumseh is the fact that they always host a vendor who sets up a mini quilt store for the quilters to use in the lobby of the building. The quilt shops will have fabric, books, fabric, notions, and more fabric. It's fun to go shopping at 3 am. Or if you're in the middle of a project and you run out of something (or need additional fabric), it's nice to walk up a set of stairs and have lots of options to help complete your project.

At the January camp more than two years ago, I came across a fat quarter bundle that I fell in love with. I bought the bundle and it sat in my sewing room, untouched, for about year. I finally found a project for the bundle and started putting it together. Because it was an "extra" project - as in it wasn't designated for anyone - I worked on this project in pieces, finally putting the top together in April.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the quilt but when I received an invitation to my dad's, wife's, granddaughters high school graduation open house, I knew I wanted to finish the quilt for her. (I guess that makes her my step-niece?) I was able to layer and quilt this project in a weekend so that I could finish it in time for her party.

Tenacity is pretty cool kid and she totally deserves this beautiful quilt. 

It was hard to part with it - especially since I loved the fat quarter bundle so much - but I'm happy Tenacity was the recipient. Especially after receiving this text from her:

Tenacity is headed to Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis this fall. She'll make a great Jaguar!