Covered Porches and Wooden Screen Doors

Memorial Day -- finishing off a 3-day weekend. Today has been sunny and 82 degrees. Beautiful.  The other two days have been cloudy intermittent showers --- permission to quilt.

I have always followed Bonnie Hunter.  I admired her 'made from shirttails' quilt designs.  I loved how she thrift shopped for men's shirts for quilt fabric.  Kinda shot that " I can't afford to quilt " analogy to hell.  I have never cut up shirts for quilts -- except the t-shirt quilt I made Eric...

I never have -- until now.   A friend I work with lost her 30-year old son to congestive heart failure.  He just didn't wake up one morning.  A volunteer fireman --- looking back, friends and family could all pick up the signs, but being too close to Billy --- they just didn't pick up on it.

Kay brought me a tote bin full of his clothes and asked me to make a quilt from them. Yikes -- all I thought was that I don't quilt well enough to do something like this.  'No seriously,  My other son just announced they are having a Baby -- I'd like a quilt for that baby from Billy's clothes.."

I put the tote bin in the dining room corner and left it there for 3 weeks.  I couldn't even open it.  I finally opened to bin and saw the different pieces she sent. I combed  through books, Pinterest-- anything I could find to get an idea of what to make.

I picked out a nine patch variation.  I also found a fire truck applique.  So for $2.50 I downloaded it.  I probably could have drawn it out, but felt like accuracy was important.

This is the bottom three rows.  It's made up of a baby blue oxford and three different plaids.  It was amazing how for the shirt fabric went. Bonnie had a tutorial on how to dismantle the shirt to make the most of it. I incorporated a solid white background.  I bought navy and white gingham for the back and binding.

There will be a row of 3 firetrucks.   The firetrucks are burgundy, from one of Billy's shirts.  It fit the theme.  There will be a single plaid row on the top.

I started cutting on Mother's day.  It was tough. Really tough. Lots of tears, tons of prayers for that family, for that Mother as the scissors cut out individual blocks. I can't even imagine her heart ache.

This is go to be a great quilt.



P.S.  I'm back -- 4 quilts left the house without even a photo.  Everyone goes through different seasons in there lives... I think I'm about to embark on a great one.