From Bags to Stitches

Have you ever wondered what it was like to create a Giant Quilt? Well I have first hand experience and it was a 7 month process from start to finish. I have a habit of taking on projects that are bigger then my scope of experience, but though they require blood, sweat and tears, those who are on the receiving end make the experience worth while and probably are the culprits as to why I keep doing it. Here is my latest triumph, and though I may not sew a quilt for some time again, I know I have the ability.

It all started with two innocent looking garbage bags.....

Which then turned into lots of t-shirts, jerseys, shorts, and collared tees. Quite the collection I might say.....

The cutting began and lasted about 4 months of the process. I cut all the t-shirts and then realized they weren't going to be easy to sew, so I called a quilting expert (Matt's mom) and she suggested interfacing. So it was back to the cutting measuring, I re-cut and measured pieces of interfacing to match the t-shirt pieces.

Next was sewing the pieces together, I had six rows of t-shirts on each side, ranging from 7-10 t-shirts in each row. A total of 100 patches all together. Sewing the t-shirts together and making sure the rows were the same length seemed an unending and daunting task. In no other moment does the little variations in length that seemed unimportant during prior work come together in an unrelenting realization that you're measuring and cutting was off. But through many long nights, lots of measuring, lots of rethinking, it all comes together into strips...


Next we put the strips together and then got batting and mounted it on boards. This sounds easy enough, but when your quilt is as large as this one, not just any mounting will do. We tried quilting stands, then 2x4's but it was just so big and so heavy it just sagged much to our disappointment. It's a good thing I am married to a super hero, because while I was at work stressing out he made the biggest quilting frame I've ever seen and mounted it up for me.


Then came the stitching. Maybe I was all quilted out, but this was the hardest thing for me to do. So again my superhero came to my rescue, and after having teaching him the night before, he quilted what I couldn't do.
With that all done next it was back to the sewing machine. I tried adding a border to the quilt, but no avail I could not get it on straight (and I really don't like things looking uneven), so I removed the binding and just folded the ends over themselves and ran the giant through the machine.

Then VICTORY! The beast though beautiful was still a beast: 7 feet wide and just over 10 feet long.

Though this consumed my life for last 6 months, I know it means more to those who will be using it then I could describe. To memories of life, happiness and love I dedicate this quilt and all my time.