As some of you may remember, each Fall at Alpha Phi's Red Dress Gala they host an auction to raise money for heart health through the Alpha Phi Foundation.  My contribution to the auction is a tshirt quilt.  The first year I made a complete quilt from extra shirts the chapter had but we realized that if instead we auctioned a coupon/certificate for a quilt to be made from someone's shirts, then attendees who are members of other organizations could bid on it too!

Earlier this year I showed you the layout I made for Amanda's tshirt quilt.  Then around March or April I was able to do some of the cutting and interfacing and even got a lot done piecing the quilt top.  I was hoping to get it finished entirely in time for when she visited me at Fourth of July but I just didn't quite make it.  Anyways...here's some of the progress on the piecing.

After I finished up the two quilts for Robin, it was on to a baby quilt for Stephanie.  Stephanie has twins, one boy and one girl, and wanted to make one quilt with both of their clothes in it.  I thought about the layout quite a bit and I decided to keep the shirts separate, "his and hers" style.  By making the blanket wider than it is tall, both kids could lay on it next to each other on their side of the blanket (while they're still little of course.  Here's to another cute kids blanket!!

I showed you the finished quilts for Robin's girls but I didn't show you how I repaired the blankies after I cut a square out of them...

Last time I showed you Robin's quilt, I had finished cutting all the shirts and was working on interfacing them.  I had cut squares out of the baby blankie but not replaced them.  Really, I had done most of the hard parts and then the sewing and quilting goes pretty quick!

Once I got approval on the "rough" layout for each of the quilts, it was time to start cutting and working on the items that needed to be appliqued.  I also especially wanted to show how I deal with some of the special items.  I want to show you how we go from this dress to a shirt block.

When my first niece was born, my sister in law asked if I would make a bed spread for her when she was ready to move into her "big girl bed".  So we decided that would be a 2nd birthday gift.  Well then my next nieces Emma and Addi were born and I made one for each of them.  And then our next nephew Greyson (our oldest nephew kind of got jipped since I wasn't quilting yet when he turned two so he'll get one eventually too).  Greyson turned two in September but I knew I wasn't going to get it done in time.  So we bought him a normal birthday present and I said it would be his Christmas gift.  Obviously I'm a little behind since it's March and not done yet but anyways...

In May 2014, my younger sister Amanda graduated from the University of Kansas (KU).  We all flew out to KS to be there for her graduation and to celebrate together.  Can you guess what my gift to her was?  A t-shirt quilt of course!  

It's kind of funny how the change of the year leads us all to look back on what we did and make new plans for the coming year.  I mean, we could look back and review what we've been doing at anytime.  But somehow we've become trained to treat this holiday like the start of a new chapter in our lives.  This year was busier in some ways and less in others, let's take a look at what happened in 2014...

I just finished a t-shirt quilt for my friend Michelle and it took me a long time.  And I mean a REALLY long time.  It wasn't complex - it didn't take more physical hours of labor than other quilts.  But for some reason, I had a hard time making progress and completing this one.  Fortunately for me, Michelle was incredibly patient and understanding.  I'm not sure why we get stuck on things sometimes but it feels good to finally finish it and allow time for new projects.  Here are some pics of her quilt.