i have to say that it was a really nice project to work on. something about spending so much time and getting a beautiful finished product can really make you feel good about yourself. i know i will have this blanket for the rest of my life and i know just how much time and energy went into it. and will always remember the hours hunched over the sewing machine, and all the times i stuck myself while pinning squares together.
it wasn't easy either. figuring out the best way to sew the panels together to avoid stretching the fabrics. measuring out the borders and making sure the dots were straight. the hardest part was cutting all of those tshirts apart. each such a distict memory. i felt kind of like a little kid getting a haircut, holding my breathe and closing my eyes as the hairdresser made the first snip with her scissors. i wanted to do it, i knew the final result would be great. but there was something safe about having my childhood tucked away neatly in my middle dresser drawer. something so scary and violative about cutting them apart into shreds.
But just as i knew, it was well worth it. i realized as i sewed the last piece of binding that this quilt represents nearly my entire life through the end of college. pieces of my life stitched together.
the top left and bottom right corner squares are letters from two of my sorority tshirts. the top is anchor letters which was our symbol, and the bottom corner were our family tree letters. both tshirts were given to me by my big sister when i was initiated. a very, very dear memory to me.
the top right and bottom left corners are my pledge shirt. that shirt got worn A LOT in those 7 weeks. for like 6 days straight at one point. pledging was one of the best and worst times of my life. i shed a lot of tears and a lot of laughter, all very worth it.
the top and bottom row middle three squares are my softball jerseys. the left most white jersey was from my middle school all star team. the middle green blocks is one of my jerseys from elementary and middle school team. i played on the same town recreational team for 8 years. good ole' green hedi.gers. the right maroon shirt is from our high school team. all of these jerseys got a LOT of wear. you can pretty much tell how worn out they are. the maroon lettering is all cracked and my name is barely still on the maroon shirt. these three were teh hardest to cut. i closed my eyes on the first snip. part of the reason was that i was still wearing the maroon and white ones occassionally for my other softball league i still play. but i have others to wear.
down the left hand side three center blocks, first is a t-shirt from our hs wrestling team. no, i didn't wrestle. but my brothers both wrestled growing up, and being around it so much i obviously liked it. in high school i kept the book for the wrestling team (even though my bro had already graduated), so wrestling was a pretty big part of my life growing up. in the middle, and corresponding with the other side panel is a tshirt from my graduating class at SHU. below that is regular tshirt from college. SHU does and always will hold a gigantic peice of my heart. i don't thinki need to say anything else.
along the right hand side is first a tshirt from my elementary school. it was actually my brother's shirt and i would estimate the shirt is about 20 years old, but i figured since we went to the same elementary school it is still appropriate! below the center shu class of 2008 piece is a shirt from my dad's company. which was actually the company my grandfather started. family is most important to me, and even though i never worked for the company the way my brothers did, i still hold it very near and dear to me.
the center block is just one of our sorority t-shirts. i played around for a while with what should go in the center but that one just looked the best aesthetically.
the center left blocks are a spice girls reunion concert t-shirt. i went to that concert with my best friend for my 22nd birthday (actually the day after!). i would not have wanted to spend my birthday any other way.
the middle blocks are a madonna concert tshirt. my brother bought me the tickets for my high school graduation. probably one of the most thoughtful things he has ever done for me and an amazing concert. especially because i was supposed to see her my freshman year of high school and she cancelled the show that morning. but seriously madonna was like 50 years old at the time and sang and danced like a 20 year old.
the center right blocks are from a bon jovi concert tshirt. it was the first of 4 times i've seen bon jovi and established my foundation as a true jersey girl. i will forever be a bon jovi fan and will probably go to every concert they ever have in my state.
the center horizontal blocks are from my first concert EVER! britney spears onyx hotel tour. what a first concert to see. i will never forget that. i was already a huge britney fan and i still am. my new britney concert tee didn't make it into the quilt because i actually DO still wear it a lot.
i am really thrilled with how it turned out. the back is the same black and white fabric as the borders. of course it has a few imperfections, but that's what makes it personal and gives it character. i'd recommend anyone with the time and patience to do this kind of project to go for it!
**The picture is purposefully blurry in a few areas as i edited some last names out of the picture for privacy sake.
No comments:
Post a Comment