The unveiling of Christmas quilts

Here are some pictures of quilts I've been sitting on because they were Christmas presents for folks and I didn't want to spoil the surprise for them! 

Here is the OSU quilt I made for Derek's parents.  They are both went to OSU.  The inside is a variation of the log cabin pattern and it was a lot easier to make than I originally anticipated.  I love how it turned out!  The border is OSU cowboy team fabric.  We used the square dance quilting design on this quilt and binded it in black. 

This is a quilt I made for Derek's niece, Aven.  I found the fabric that I used in the border and fell in love.  I was lucky and it wasn't too hard to find coordinating fabric that I equally loved.  I chose to have it quilted in a paisley design to match the paisley design inside the little elephants.  I bound it in the same purple color that I used in the quilt and the back is also purple so you can see the beautiful paisley stitching. 

Here is a quilt I did for my nephew John.  He is a freshman in college and loves music.  I didn't work off a pattern, I just kind of sketched out this quilt once I found this fabric with the music notes.  It was harder to find than I thought.  The music note fabric wasn't cotton, it was that baby soft flannel so I used coordinating soft flannel with it.  It will be quilted with music notes of some type.  This one still has to be quilted, but I wrapped the quilt top and let him open it Christmas because I ran out of time to get it quilted before hand.  Can't wait to give him the finished quilt.

I've got a few more I'm working on that I'll post pictures of soon.  Hope everyone has a happy and safe new year!

Puzzles, Mushrooms & Volleyballs

Check out this varigated volleyball design we put on Kristina's volleyball quilt

                      These are two close ups of the volleyball quilt I did for Kristina! 

I had to change the coloring on this picture so you could see the quilting pattern. 
It's various mushrooms for the quilt shown below. 

 This is a close up of the puzzle pieces quilting design that we used on this Camp quilt for Melanie.  A picture of the whole quilt is below.   I really liked this design, because it matched the puzzle piece border we chose! 

If you have shirts that you just can't stand to part with, consider making them into a blanket so you can keep them forever without taking up space in your dresser or your closet. Email me if I can be of any assistance. - joyleighlane@gmail.com

CAMP ASCCA

A friend was a camp counselor at Camp ASCCA for many summers.  She decided instead of taking of space in her closet and drawers, that she wanted a blanket that she can use forever to remember all the fun times as Camp ASCCA.  Camp ASCCA is a nationally recongized leader in thereapeutic recreation for children and adults with physical and mental diabilities.   

If you have shirts from summer camp, or from dance or things you used to do when you were younger, consider about making them into a blaket so you can keep them forever without taking up space in your dresser or your closet.  Email me if I can be of any assistance. - joyleighlane@gmail.com

Baby Love!

I had a little break in the t-shirt quilt making and made some baby blankets for some friends! 

This was my first applique project - I made it for Derek's new baby neice, Miss Eden Saige.  After practicing with a few letters, I got the hang of it.  The back is so soft.  Love the way it turned out!

This isn't the best picture, but you get the idea.  This is a baby blanket for Miss Tyla Brook Hardesty who should be making her way into this world very soon!  Loved the elephants.  I personally love the name personalization on the baby blankets, so of course I did it here too.

I've got several other baby blankets in the works!  Seems like I've got a million friends having babies right now :)   Can't wait to post pictures of the special one I'm currently working on.

- Joy

Do you want a T-Shirt Quilt?

If you do gather your t-shirts and give me a call or shoot me an e-mail (joyleighlane@gmail.com).  I can help you pick out the fabric for the sashing (the strips of fabric that divide the shirts in the quilt) and the border.  If you live out of state,  you have two options:   
   1.  I can tell how much material to purchase.  The yardage of material will depend on how many shirts you want to put in your quilt.**
   2.  You can tell me what colors/design you had in mind, and I can get the fabric for you.
 
**NOTE: All material used must be 100% cotton.  A tiny wee bit of stretch is okay, but anything fluffy, excessively soft or stretchy will not work!! So no stretch soft t-shirt material!  Bottom line if you're buying fabric make sure its 100% cotton. **

  Once I get everything from you, I'll transform your t-shirts and the material into a beautifully pieced quilt top.
After the quilt top is complete, I take it to Crafty Cats Quilt Shop in Graceville, Florida.  The great folks at Crafty Cats will put it on their long arm quilting machine and quilt it up.   There are a variety of designs to choose from.   See the Quilting Design Blog Post for pics of some of the designs available. 

Once it is quilted, I'll pick it up and get it bound for you and returned back to you for you to enjoy.

Depending on the size, prices range from $150 - $250.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at joyleighlane@gmail.com.

Quilting Designs

There are a variety of quilt designs that you can choose from.  Normally I just select one that I think will look best with whatever theme or pattern we're working with on the quilt.  But, I've started taking pictures of the one's I've used to show you so that if you just fall in love with one and want to request a certain design.

This is a called champagne bubble design.  I used this one, in a quilt where I had used polka dot fabric, it turned out really cute.

This is a dragon fly pattern.  I had this done in a variegated thread. **

Here is the football design. 

This was called a square dance design.  I just recently discovered this and I think this is one of my favorite to use on a quilt for a guy!

I'll call the "Classic" quilt design since I dont remember what it's name is.  This one was also done in variegated thread.   When variegated thread is used on a solid back such as this black, the colors really pop.  As you can see from this picture, the colors from the thread aren't very prominant on the fron and don't distract you from all the great colors and shirts, but it makes the back of the quilt look amazing!



  This is just another view of the "classic" design. I have used this on several quilts and it turns out very beautiful.



Lastly, here we have an eagle design.  This too was done in variegated thread and I must say, at first I was a little nervous how it would turn out, but it really does look amazing.  This picture really doesn't do it justice, but hopefully you can see the eagles.  We used this on Susan's law school quilt.  If you remeber, we used a firework fabric for the sashing and then a solid purple for the border. We were going for a law/liberty/justice theme, so we used the Eagle design.  It also turns out that Faulkner's mascot is the eagle, so that was a pretty cool coincidence.

Well, as I branch out and use different quilting designs, I'll make sure to post them here.

- Joy

** variegated thread is thread in which the color changes down the strand.

Fun Easy Dresses!

This weekend, my dear friend Ashley came to visit from Baltimore.  With her she brought this nifty pattern to make this super fun and comfortable dresses!  They are meant to be made out of old t-shirts/tank tops.  But since we didn't have any we went to TJ Max and bought some cheap shirts (Only $4.99)! Added an eslastic band and some fun fabric to the bottom.   Best part.....it only took about 20 minutes to make!



Black shirt, black elastic and skull print for the bottom



Brown shirt, white elastic and cute zig sag fabric in bright blue, lime green and brown.