T-Shirt quilt: Finally complete! (picture heavy post)

Here's a secret: I actually finished my T-Shirt quilt over a month ago. I've even used it twice since then. Sorry, y'all.

Yes, that is a Harry Potter pillowcase in the background. 

This is a special post- this blanket has been something I've wanted to complete for several years! I kept getting side-tracked, starting it then stopping, then starting again but forgetting what I was going to do, then having to redo things and oof! It was a very time consuming project. Every single step of it. I don't want to dissuade anyone from undertaking their own t-shirt quilt, but I will say this was a heifer of a project to undertake.

Back of the quilt. The square in the middle was not a
smart move, sewing wise. 

Things I learned 
Or, how to avoid a disaster


1. I am not a quilter. Nope.

Front of the quilt! Yay!

2. I rush through planning projects sometimes. This is not one of those things you can rush through! I learned that the hard way, more than once. Yikes.
3. Have a plan that you know you can follow. And keep it nearby for handy reference. I really should have printed out a plan at the start.
4. I have more skills than I thought when it comes to sewing! I also have fewer skills than I thought, as I learned from a few different points where I actually thought "UH. What is this tutorial even asking me to do?!" Oops.
5. Even if there are flaws, it still looks impressive once it's finished. People do NOT notice the things I do, like the lack of straight stitching, the pen marks I can still spot on some of the shirt fronts, my terribly tied knots between the layers...people only see this massive quilt and the shirts which make it up!

Close up of the backing fabrics. Totally wrinkly. Sorry, guys. 

     Resources for the T-Shirt-Quilt-Project(-That-Lasted-Forever-Because-of-Poor-Planning):

This is resting on a full size bed (ha, get it, resting?).

~Here is the website I should have followed the whole time. I found it AFTER I had already (poorly) cut my shirts and attached fusible. Most Unfortunate for me, but fortunately for you, I can save you that anguish.
        Some Notes: 
        ~ If you are a first timer, absolutely go with the "blanket as the batting, sheet as a back" suggestion. And if you are not a first timer, definitely do NOT try to put a square in the middle of the back of your quilt, even if the fabric is beautiful and you only have a square of it. It is not worth the trouble it takes to try and sew in a square between two single pieces of fabric and also be precise. Nope.
         ~Where the tutorial tells you to iron, don't think "Awwww heck, this fabric seems fine. Plus I hate ironing, so I'll just skip that step." It will not turn out well for you.
         ~You do use a lot of thread, but JoAnn Fabrics typically has spools (decently sized) of "quilting thread" that are 99 cents. I found the quality to be fairly sturdy!
         ~TAKE YOUR TIME doing the "math" parts. As a good friend's dad says, "Measure twice, cut once," or as I have adapted it "Measure quickly then cut once, and then do an hour of extra work for each hasty cut because you forgot about x, y, or z, ya dumb dumb."
 
Here are a few other tutorials which are thorough:
~ Cheap Chic Home
~ Sew Caroline (Part 1, there are 2 parts total)
~ Almost Casual
~ The Dixie Chicken (Part 1, there are 3 parts total)



I used some extra interfacing I had laying around, and unfortunately, it wrinkled in the dryer after I washed the quilt. You can see in the picture to the left how it has wrinkled; basically the interfacing disconnected from the shirt and bunched up underneath. When it is hot out of the dryer, I can sort of stretch it back out, but it stays pretty wrinkled. I have a few shirt backs like this. I didn't know that interfacing adhesive could go bad, but I suppose it did!

For the edge, I folded it all over twice and sewed to keep it in place. Not fancy, but also not super difficult!

Video I used for the edge of the quilt (I did not do as much ironing/gluing, hence my non-straight lines)

More of the edge of the quilt

You can sort of see the tiny yellow blob there, left of center in the picture to the left. That's one of the ties on the quilt, to hold the front and back together in the middle spaces of the quilt, so that it doesn't "bubble" out. These took a painstakingly long time, because I did them at/near each corner seam. I am not patient enough nor advanced enough to sew a quilting design into the quilt, so I went with the ties as a more practical option. I think it looks great, actually, and they are small enough that the bad ones are relatively hidden anyway. Wink!


Ta-da! What do you think? Is this a project you'd undertake? Or do you have a project that you've been putting off because you know it will take a lot of time?

I seriously love this pattern. 

Finished Product: Birthday Calendar

Following through with a promise from a previous post, here are some photos of the birthday calendar I made, as well as the products and process listed below. Enjoy!

Photos

Products

- 1 wooden board, 1" x 6" x 20" (leftover from previous project) and sandpaper
- Acrylic Paint (blue, white, black), palette paper pad, masking tape, and brushes
- Alphabet stickers (leftover from wedding crafts, ha)
- Burlap "ribbon" (I can't find the product exactly online, but it was the same brand and packaged the same way as THIS product. It was in the party decorations section, and it was a thicker ribbon, for sturdiness) (~ $2.50)
- Small clothespins ($3.99 for 30) and thin marker or hefty pen
-Hot glue gun and glue

Process

1. Sand the board until desired smoothness (edges and faces)

2. Stencil the "birthdays" text. I would give you a specific process for this but I have a talent for being able to look at a font and replicate it fairly accurately, so that's what I did. Font I used was a classic Typewriter font. You could place stickers here if you'd like, but in that case I'd do it after step 3.

3a. For the stripe background, place long strips of masking tape roughly 3/4" apart. Paint one color and let it dry (I had to use several coats). Be sure to paint around the outlined text!
3b. Take off the masking tape and place it on the edge of the previously painted stripe, to give a barrier. Paint the blank stripes with your second color (again, may need to use several coats).

4. After the background dries, paint the sides (or leave, or paint the same as the stripes; there are a lot of options) and then paint the text outlines (Or use stickers. Options!). Let dry.

5. Measure out the spaces for the month labels. I placed mine 1.5 inches from the edge, and spaced them 1.25 inches apart. Place your stickers (the initial for each month).

6. Cut ribbon into 8 inch pieces (Or longer, or shorter if you have a small family. Options people!!). The burlap I used frayed when I cut it, so I sewed each edge with a zigzag stitch. Warm up the hot glue gun and place a pea sized dot on the backside of one end of the ribbon. Place that end of the ribbon underneath the month initial sticker, making sure it is perpendicular to the board's edge, so that it hangs straight. Press down on the ribbon so that the hot glue dries flat.

7. Cut another piece of ribbon to desired hanging length. Hot glue the ribbon to the back of the board. I placed the ends in the middle of the board and hot glued the ribbon from the middle to the top of the board (not done in the picture, which is why it hangs forward instead of flat).

8. The hard part! Write down the names of family members on one side of the clothes pin, and on the edge which clips, write the number of the person's birthday date. Clip the clothespin onto the appropriate month, and voila! A reminder of when people's birthdays are so that you don't forget them. The hubs is already using it to remind me of birthdays coming up!