Yesterday I woke up and said to Jon, ” Do you think I’ll ever go back to my studio? I haven’t been there in almost 2 weeks because of the show and right now I don’t even want to go back.” He reassured me that, of course I’d want to get back to work and I was just cranked and tired from the show. Although, at that moment I couldn’t imagine it, I believed him.
So this afternoon, I eased myself into the studio. More than a month ago I got an email from a woman asking if I would make a quilt for her husband out of his Harley Davidson tee shirts. I don’t take many requests for quilts, but this one sounded like fun to me. We met at Gardenworks and she gave me a big plastic bag filled with her husbands tee shirts. I was expecting a bunch of black shirts and was pleasantly surprised when I peeked in the bag and saw they were all different colors.
I had been thinking of the quilt all morning and by the time I got into my studio I was excited to get started. I cleaned up my pre-show mess, vacuumed my rugs (I hate vacuuming, but it must be done) and dumped the plastic bag of tee shirts on the floor. Oh, there was a lot of them. I picked them up one by one, chose one side (many of them had images on both sides) and folded the shirt so the picture was showing and laid them out to see what I had to work with. A little overwhelming? Slightly, but then I started to move them around, it’s like hanging a show, I thought, maybe I should call Diane.
I slowly got into it. Moving them around, refolding them to create different shapes, looking for fabric that would work in between them. I haven’t come up with a design yet, but I did accomplish something. I know I need to cut them into different shapes, and that they shouldn’t all go in one direction. And now, I have them in my head, so until I go back to work with them, I can rearrange them in my mind and come up with different patterns. The next step is to start cutting, suddenly I can’t wait to get to work. I guess Jon was right (but don’t tell him I said so, I’ll never hear the end of it) about my getting back to the studio.
Wow…my husband’s Tee Shirts ….They look awesome all spread out like that. (I’m sorry there were so many, LOL)! I was so pleased to see this post! So excited to see what you come up with. Would also like to chat with you about a project I have going on that you might like to be a part of…Will email you later on today!!!!
Many thanks (in advance) for your work on this….I know you’ve been very busy and there is no rush….I hope you have fun with it, I know my husband is going to LOVE this when it’s finished! I KNOW you will make this into something unforgettable!!!! And don’t hesitate to call me or email me if you have any questions.
Many thanks, Barbe
Thanks Barb, I’ll be in touch.
What a fun funky piece it will be!
Maria, What a fabulous project! So fun! I can’t wait to see the end result. Creativity is like a circle…seems like no matter where we jump into the circle, it takes us back around again to our joyful self. Thank god for circles.
Don’t forget to show us the finished product, Maria. What a cool quilt this is going to be! One of a kind.
Hi Maria,
What a fun project…being a quilter myself, I have been asked to do this sort of t-shirt project, but, have yet to do one. My sister has done them, and she recommends stabilizing the t-shirt fabric with a lightweight iron on interfacing. Can’t wait to see the Harley quilt.
Congratulations on your successful show and also your new home coming soon. We are really enjoying Red’s arrival, too. Amazing. He is such a compliment to Bedlam Farm, and your already beautiful relationship with the animals.
Marcia
Thanks for the advice Marcia, someone else mentioned the interfacing. Won’t that make things easier. And I agree Red is pretty special.
Wish I could quilt…Looks like it will be a wonderful piece 🙂 You should make a quilt with dogs on it 🙂
OMG, my uncle Jack would LOVE this. Once you finish, I trust you will post pictures so I can send him one.
Yes, Annie, there will be pictures.