Colorways by Vicki Welsh

Well, yesterday was kind of a surprising day! All of our snow from past week melted in 2 days. This was all new yesterday. It was a big surprise to me because I am notorious for not checking the weather. I get up in the morning and look out the window to check the weather.

Before the snow got serious, I grabbed my new log carrier and restocked our indoor and patio wood stores. We enjoyed the snow from the comfort and warmth of home.

I started my day working on the Christmas gifts from my friends and I finished them mid-afternoon. Today I need to go out and purchase gift boxes.

Next I got busy on the the memory quilt. I am using my Keepsakes Quilt pattern. Here’s one that I made 15 years ago for the son of one of Chris’ best friends.

This quilt requires some thinking so I just attack it one step at a time.

The first step is cutting the t-shirts. I cut a large piece and back it with lightweight interfacing. Then I cut it down to a block that is some multiple of 3″ plus 1/2″ for seam allowance. I think this one cut down to 9.5″ x 15.5″.

Depending on how close the image is to the neck or sleeve seam, I sometimes have to piece the block. This image was printed diagonal on the shirt and it had his name written on it. I wanted to preserve his name so had to cut a pretty wonky piece. 3 additional pieces to bring it up to size. Once it’s together and quilted, these seams won’t be visible.

Working on memory quilts is very rewarding but can be a little stressful. I don’t want to make any mistakes and I tend to overthink every decision.. Getting all the shirts cut is a big mental hurdle for me.

The next step is to frame the shirts. As with most young men, his wardrobe is quite drab. Lots of black, gray and blue. There are some plaid shirts that I will use in the quilt but I don’t think there’s enough fabric in them to frame all the blocks. Jeans fabric is another option. I could also just go with black and gray frames. I’m waiting on a delivery of some extra fabrics to see if there might be more plaid fabrics. They were going to deliver them today but the weather prevented that! Not sure today will be any better.

If I don’t get the fabrics today, I’m sure I can find something else to work on!