t-shirt quilt for GM - part 1

This quilt has been a work in progress for the last two years.  It started when my sister (GM) moved out to California in 2012 and brought along a few shirts she did not want to let go.  This is where I suggested making her a t-shirt quilt to hold onto those memories.

This isn't the first t-shirt quilt I've ever made nor will it be my last.  The reason why it took 2.5 years is I had a baby almost 2 weeks after her arrival and on top of that, still had to take care of my oldest (who just turned 2 at the time and recovering from a minor outbreak of the chickenpox).

This version of the quilt is made of 25 squares and almost all of them are from a shirt with sentimental value.  Brutus Buckeye always has to be in the middle since he's our mascot from THE Ohio State University.

quilt layers from bottom to top: fleece, batting, t-shirt squares

GM wanted the fabric trim related to dogs or cats since that's her thing.  I was lucky to find fabric at Joanns that was mostly white with multicolored paw prints.  I think it lets the shirt colors really stand out.  The back is a cute forest animal print on flannel.  The batting is the one of thinnest I've purchased to date since she now lives in Riverside, CA, where it isn't cold for a majority of the year.

Instead of buying packaged bias tape, I used the leftover material from the trim.  I had to look up several tutorials to find the easiest way to cut one continuous strip and then run the material through a bias tape maker.   I felt so much satisfaction when feeding through the material and ironing out the partially folded bias tape.  I'm not sure how much I made but there was enough to cover the perimeter of the quilt and a ton of it leftover for future projects.

cutting one long continuous strip to make bias tape

bias tape created with the most awesome gadget ever

While sewing the final trim on the edge of the quilt, I burned a hole in one of the squares. I'm soooo pissed at myself for making such a stupid mistake.  The way my sewing space is set up, there is limited lighting so I attached one of those portable IKEA lamps that can attach anywhere.  Apparently I had the neck bent too low and was wondering why I was smelling a burning smell while sewing upstairs.  I finally lifted my head from the machine and noticed the quilt was smoking.  A nice black hole is currently in one of the t-shirt squares.  So much for calling this finished. 

Looks like the next step is to create some sort of patch to disguise the hole.