Friday Finishes - Sharla's First T-shirt Quilt plus more

Happy Friday everyone, it has been a very very busy week for me.  I finished Sharla's first t-shirt quilt which we think she made in 2008, and completed two tops. Yeah me!!!!  In 2008 when Sharla and I were first getting into quilting we took a t-shirt quilt class.  She decided she didn't want to cut up her t-shirts until she knew that she liked how the quilt turned out, so she bought some plain shirts to use.  This quilt is pretty small in comparison to others we've done.  I think she was supposed to add a border to match the sashing, but never did.

I learned a lot quilting this quilt.  First and foremost patterned fabrics are my friend!!!  The bright solids are fun, but they show everything.  I've always admired Amish quilts, but until I get much better at quilting, I don't think I will be doing one.  I changed up and did loops for this one, which was lots of fun.  I still need more practice and think the next quilt I do will have them too.

I used Signature's Tie Dye thread for the front which was lots of fun, and the colors were perfect for this quilt. I did use a different color for the back because it was green, so I used Limey Greens by Signature.

I know why they say don't mix colors, and I only have one spot that is funky and since this quilt will most likely be given to Tucker or Hollywood, I'm not overly concerned.  I will say I don't know if it was because I was doing loops or if it was because of the t-shirt material, but I had a lot more thread breakage.  I had to slow down a lot to keep it from breaking, but I think I finally got it under control.

I also finished the test quilt.  I can't show it to you yet, but the pattern should be released mid-March and I will show it to you then.  I am happy with it, it's not perfect, but the colors came out great.  It is just the top and I probably won't quilt it until I get the ruler base for my Handiquilter.  But here is is when I was sewing the very last seam.

And last but not least I got my Trails End quilt top finished. I bought the layer cake on sale, because I like the colors, but once I got it, the patterns really aren't me.  I'm not a big moose person.  Overall I'm happy with it, and I'm sure someone will like it.  I still have to get backing and binding fabric for it.

Overall I'm happy with my progress this week, I got a lot accomplished I'm linking up with... Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Link a Finish Friday, TGIFF...at Devoted Quilter, Crazy Mom Quilts, NTT (Needle and Thread Thursday) and Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Fort Worth Fabric Studio.