Too Many T-shirts

I was in a sorority in college. I know there are tons of stereotypes about Greek life and sororities, but it seriously made college the most fun 5 years of my life (it’s okay that I was there for 5 years… I got my masters). I didn’t join my sorority until my junior year and it is almost like I went to a completely different school during the last 3 years. Almost all of the friends from college that I am still in touch with are from my sorority… I owe it a lot!

When you’re in a sorority, there are a TON of events to go to. And I think 90% of them have a t-shirt associated with them. What’s that old lightbulb joke? Oh yeah… how many sorority girls does it take to screw in a lightbulb? 51- One to screw it in and 50 to make a t-shirt about it. After graduating college I realized I had WAY more t-shirts than I knew what to do with, and very few opportunities to wear them. What is a crafty girl to do? Make a t-shirt quilt.

The quilt was my big project during the year after graduation (AKA last year). I found a pattern that is pretty easy to follow and I was off. It was the first quilt that I made mostly on my own. I picked light pink and green fabrics (my sorority colors) and found really cool fabric from my alma mater (GO UCONN) for the back. It took me about 3 months of working on it (on and off and for little bits at a time). I love the finished product!

Once people saw my quilt, especially those sorority girls with far too many t-shirts, I was inundated with requests on how I did it or requests for me to make one for them. My policy was to show the pattern but always declined making one because it is  A LOT of work. However, a very good friend of mine (Annie) decided to move to California this April and asked me to make her a quilt since she couldn’t take all her shirts with her. I must have been feeling generous so I agreed. It was actually nice to have a project to do! Annie wanted her quilt to be a bit brighter with pink on the back, and I found an awesome pink and green flowered fabric with some gold glitter running through it. I just finished the quilt last night, so I thought I’d show all of you the finished product!

 (Maggie decided she wanted to be in the pictures too.) Annie saw the quilt via email and she loves it! Yay because it is a combined going away and birthday present! I love these quilts because they are useful, warm, and a great way to remember the amazing times I had with all my sorority sisters.

What crafty things do you guys do with your old t-shirts?

-Carolyn

Monkeying Around with a Baby Quilt

UGH! It has been farrrr too long since my last post. Weirdly enough, I miss it! I’ve been doing a ton of stuff that I want to post about, but it is mostly gifts for other people or planning for my sister’s bridal shower. Obviously, I haven’t been able to post any of that stuff. I will soon, so get excited. Until then…

A few years back my mom and I started making quilts whenever we got invited to a baby shower of a close friend or family member. It is a great tradition, but also a ton of work. We recently went to a shower of a close family friend who decided not find out the sex of the baby. This really narrows down the options for quilts, so I was hunting around for a baby quilt that would work well. I found this pattern and thought it would be perfect because every square could be a different color! It’s called the Monkey Wrench Baby Quilt (hence the blog title).

My mom and I spent about an hour and a half in JoAnn Fabric’s picking out fabrics that would go well together. We ended up with these… I especially love the brown fabric printed with “baby.”

The first step was to make half square triangles (in which you make a square that is made up of two triangles of two different fabrics). You can find the directions to make HSTs here. First draw a diagonal line on the lighter square. Sew a quarter inch on either side of the line.

Cut on the line to make two triangles. Trim the corners so they won’t show when the square is ironed.

Iron the squares flat. They’ll look like this.

Then sew the strips together.

Cut strips into 2.5 inch squares. Cut 20 squares of brown fabric for the middle of the blocks. Then you’re ready to piece the blocks together!

When all the blocks are made, lay them out to figure out what blocks look best near each other. I used ten different fabrics for the blocks, so I wanted to make sure that none of the colors were near their partners. (This picture is laid out on a bed, so ignore the comforter pattern.)

Sew in the connecting strips and border. Pin and quilt. Bind the quilt by hand or using a binding strip.

I absolutely love how this quilt turned out! It will be perfect for a boy or a girl, and I am so happy that I could give something that I made myself (with some help from my mom). Can’t wait to start the next one!

-Carolyn