My first and last Britney quilt

And now, from the archives....

no, thanks

Last year, my next door neighbor showed me a bag of T-shirts, wondering if any of my guild friends might have interest in taking on a project. Her daughter was our first babysitter when we moved to Massachusetts 6 years ago, and is now a college junior. The shirts represented high school and college memories and were languishing in a dresser.

I should mention that these are the best neighbors we've ever had. They let our children use their backyard and house like it is theirs, invite us over for impromptu dinners, and generally keep an eye on us like we are family. So while I'd heard stories about how awful t-shirt jersey is to work with, I couldn't say no.

My only design direction was that their daughter "likes blue." (I know, right?!)

I squared and interfaced all the shirt content, and raided some unused brights from my stash and scrap bin to fill in. I honestly loved how lively it was when it was done, but it took a long time!

Some of the Ts had hilarious content and were a bit incongruous with the more philanthropic shirts, so I relegated them to the back, alongside a teal print I found at Joann's. If you look closely, you'll spy not just Britney, but also Nick Lachey and (gag) Chris Brown.

There were many snorts when this came in for show and tell at my BMQG meeting.

I used the quilt as a chance to practice my free motion, which was executed in a square stipple pattern. In the end, my neighbors loved it. There were tears, probably the best reaction I've ever had to a quilt I made!