I’m nearly finished cutting squares out of shirts and am starting to make the first practice block so I can get an idea of how it’s going to look. There are 2 alternating blocks for a triple Irish quilt (or any Irish quilt for that matter). Separately, they don’t look like much but the magic happens when you string several pairs together. Or at least that’s the plan! This project has been a lot more challenging than I thought it would – there’s an art to getting the most squares out of a shirt and since I have a finite number to work with, I’m nervous that I’ll end up short at the end. I have a plan B if that happens!
I needed a mental break from working on it though, so yesterday I put this together. I cut the heart out using my Scan ‘n Cut. Now that I’m getting the hang of it, that part was pretty quick this time. I sewed a narrow straight line close to the end (it has Heat ‘n Bond underneath) and then 2 layers of batting. The pattern is from Moda Bake Shop. Here’s a link to the designer, Karen Miller, quilting it though. It has pebbles around the circumference of the heart, then the feathers (which was the biggest challenge) and then matchsticks around the edge. I added a really thin border to finish it off.
The quilt bee that I’m in is gathering at my house on Saturday and our leader suggested name tags for everyone. I already had the paper which has adhesive on the back, so I used the Scan ‘n Cut again to cut out one of their standard shapes and cut about 20 of them. I asked if I needed to have food or drink and she made such a great point – no! She went on to say why do we always seem to think we need something to eat and drink when it’s a social event? I laughed because it’s so true; this time I didn’t buy so much as a plate so I guess we’ll see how that works out!
Lovely shirtings you chose for the Irish chain. Will be interesting to see it come together.
I love the feel of old shirts – all soft after all the laundering. I’m sure they’ll make a lovely quilt and I look forward to seeing it.
The heart is absolutely gorgeous!
I am interested in the shirt project. I have the shirts that belonged to my dad, who had a penchant for plaid. I have been wanting to do something with these, but never knew what or how. This would be a very special project for me, so I would appreciate any feedback.
The heart block is so pretty.
Have fun at the Bee.
My friends and I always center around food, so let me know how this goes!
Really pretty heart! I think I saw scan n cut on a sewing show recently when they were making a travel bag. That was neat to watch. That was the same show I saw them demonstrate making luggage tags.
I tell those feathers are improving rapidly! I have been tracing a corner pattern, but Still no luck when I try to draw it, so will likely trace this block! Have fun with your quilting bee!