Thursday, March 7, 2024

Project Quilting 15.5: Wearables

The fifth challenge for Season 15 of Project Quilting was announced on Sunday, and the theme this week is "Wearables":
 

PQ 15.5 WEARABLES

For this week’s challenge, we’re working with “wearables” – I want you to either start or end fashionably. Here’s what I mean.
 
One option is to turn clothes into something else. Are you ready to recycle your wedding dress into something new? Is it time to make a special project from t-shirts or old ties? I hear denim makes great rugs!
 
Or, you could quilt-ify something you wear. Try some visible mending and embellish existing pieces, or make a tote or hat or apron.
 
Another option is to use the theme in a quilt. Make a wall hanging about your passion for shoes, or try that Ugly Sweater quilt block pattern.
 
And finally – there’s a special opportunity for you this week! You can make a piece of clothing. Any piece of clothing you sew will qualify this week: pajama pants, an Easter dress, a jacket, a skirt – you can do it all. And for this, I’m making a one-time-only exception to the usual PQ rules about 3-layers or embellished or pieced, etc. This week only, if you whip up a sewn piece of clothing (from a pattern is fine!) you can enter it in PQ! 
(I’m doing this to allow us scaredy-cats a growth opportunity to try apparel sewing.)
 
Now, don’t get carried away breaking the rules – you still have to BEGIN and END your project between 3/3/24 and 3/10/24 (no WIP projects, please), and it still has to be FINISHED. Done means buttoned, bound, hemmed, zipped, snapped or tied with a bow – your project must be finished to qualify.

RULE ONE: your project must be wearable, or have been made from previously worn items, or have another connection to clothes, shoes and fashion accessories.

Making clothing is not a big deal for me. I've been sewing for more than 50 years, but didn't start quilting until 1995. Before that, it was all clothing--mostly for myself at first, later as a career, making theatre costumes, which I did for 40+ years. I still make garments occasionally, but most of the time I prefer to stick to quilting. 

For this challenge, I decided to pull out my box of old shirts and shirt fabric scraps. Bonnie Hunter seems to be the queen of using old shirt fabrics, and I've managed to amass a small collection of fabrics. I chose a few to use in two placemats.





Both placemats finished at 13.5" x 18". The dark fabrics in the chains of rectangles on each were also used for the backs. Both of those fabrics were from shirts that used to belong to my husband, but all the rest of the fabrics were from thrift store/garage sale shirts. The quilting is all stitch-in-the-ditch.

These two placemats will join the growing pile that will be donated to Meals on Wheels by our quilt guild. I'm hoping to end up with an even dozen to donate at an upcoming meeting. 

Linking up with:
Project Quilting 15.5 at Persimon Dreams
Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict


Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

9 comments:

  1. They look great! And you have whittled away at some stash. I'm sure the Meals on Wheels recipients will enjoy these.

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  2. Neat placemat. It’s nice to see clothing repurposed. You did a great job accenting the stripes. Excellent job overall.

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  3. Great interpretation of the challenge! Both placemats give really manly vibes, a couple of senior guys will love them.

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  4. Great and useful way to interpret the challenge! I too collected shirts because of Bonnie but am still looking to make my first quilt with them. When I saw this I thought you were making the same string quilt as I am and now you have me thinking about doing another one in striped shirts!

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  5. That is a great way to use some shirt fabric scraps.

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  6. I think you deserve a crown to for this great upcycling project!! I love that block - its just a perfect fit for the placemat!!!

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  7. Nice placemats. I love those shirt fabrics.

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  8. Brilliant way to meet the challenge while adding to your placemat collection, Julie!

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  9. yes! LOVE this! they look stunning ;)

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