T-Shirt Quilts

My current project - for a coworker . . . a bunch of her old T-shirts and fabric pieces (after 3 hours in the fabric store! . . . decisions decisions . . . but I was excited for JoAnn's Fabric Store's Coupon Commotion!  And, proud that the receipt said I saved $74!)

. . . This quilt has been difficult to make!  I was supposed to start it back in April, but I fractured my wrist and had to get a cast.  I had to put the project on hold because it even hurt to hold a ruler down.  I picked the project back up last week, and was almost done, but then my sewing machine broke! . . . so I have to wait to get it repaired :(


In the meantime, here are a few other quilts I have made:

This is a T-shirt quilt for another coworker of mine.

After her quilt was made, she recommended me to the district, to make a quilt - which is now hanging in the office!  Each staff member wrote on a square, and then I sewed them into a quilt.  I am pretty much self taught in quilt making, and use trial by error (which is why I tend to veer towards using squares and rectangles when making quilts).   

More Felt Crafts

A little while later, my coworkers and I went to a training, where they raffled off prizes throughout the day.  One of the prizes was a weighted snake to be warn on the shoulders or on the lap.  It is supposed to help give students input, in order to increase focus and concentration.  One of my coworkers really wanted it, but did not win it - so I surprised her by making her one, using the leftover felt I had.  I filled it with a small bag of pinto beans.

Another project I made was for one of my oldest friends!  She has a ninja collection, so I wanted to find a way in which to add to her collection.  Also, she had just moved into a new place, so I wanted to give her something as a housewarming present.  I looked online for things to buy - then came across some pillows (www.etsy.com) . . . and thought to myself, "I can make that!"  So, I bought black and white felt, and sewed away!  I made one ninja pillow per family member (although, if I had to make them again, I would make them using material that did not pill).     

More Felt Food

Later on, a friend of mine mentioned her love for felt food (Her desk is covered with them!)  She had also mentioned she liked the ones with different expressions, and that she did not have felt bacon, yet.  So, using felt, a little stuffing, and a wire hanger, I created a mad bacon with a happy bacon on the other side!

I made her some felt musubi, too.

Felt Food

To start, here are a few pictures from my felt phase.  I had wanted to make felt food for my classroom, for a while now - Especially, to save money on buying toys and learning materials.  Why spend $20 on 1 food set, when you can have a few sets for less than $5 altogether?!  

First I made a hamburger set - great for stacking, pretend play, color identification, and so on.  I also made a watermelon (although I don't have a picture of it now), as that is one of my favorite fruits.

 Here are pictures of the counting cookies I made, too.  On one side of the cookie is a number.  And on the other side there are chocolate chips, corresponding to that number.  Students can use them for counting practice, number identification, sequencing, pretend play, and so on. 

After, I made a birthday cake with candles.  This is something I wanted to buy in the store, but could not justify spending $30+ on it - especially when most of the sets had tiny candles that could be a choking hazard for my students.  For the cake, I used felt with foam on the inside (leftover from a DIY project my husband had made).  The candles are made of felt and leftover batting from other projects.   

I use the cake in the classroom for birthday celebrations.  We count the number of students in the class, and then count out that many slices of cake.  Then, the birthday student puts on/counts the candles, we sing, and the student pretends to blow the candles out.  After, the birthday student passes a slice of cake to each of his/her classmates, and everyone pretends to eat it - A healthy way to celebrate birthdays in the class, while sharing, counting, and pretend playing!