Finished FIXED Yellow Quilt

I was pleasantly surprised that nobody sent me a judgmental email about using strips of t-shirt fabric to bind my damaged quilt. But I did have several questions about my "right sides together" instructions. You are right, Diane -- there IS NO real right side to t-shirt fabric. It simply does not matter which side you like -- but you want to be consistent. The fabric strips will curl in one direction -- so make sure they're all curling the same way.

After I put a new t-shirt binding around the yellow quilt...

And it looks amazing...

I had to deal with that one worn-out square. It's a big mess. I could shop for a year and never find suitable old fabric to make the repair...and all those little pieces will take so much time...it's not worth cutting up another quilt....

YOU GUESSED IT...I decided to use the front of my tie dye t-shirt instead!!

So, with the help of an iron, some stitch witchery -- I started by just IRONING the patch over the bad square...That really is the best way to deal with it.  AFTER I ironed it in place, I zig-zaged around the edges...

AND I LOVE IT...LOVE IT, LOVE IT...

This quilt brings back so many wonderful memories of when my boys were small. I am glad it will be a part of Lilly's life now...

I wanted to make sure you knew THERE WAS T-SHIRT FRINGE...

AFTER I sewed on the new binding and repaired the bad quilt block -- I soaked the quilt overnight in the washing machine with some Oxi-Clean. It washed up BEAUTIFULLY. I was very pleased with how strong and vibrant the fabric was after a decade of being packed away. Bringing back this beloved quilt is one of the best sewing jobs I've ever done. And I consider the use of the lowly recycled t-shirt to be nothing short of BRILLIANT...

BUT, make no mistake -- I KNOW THIS IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE QUILT RESTORATION. Remember...I am not pretending to be a quilter.Quilters are amazing. They are truly fabric artists. (I got a comment the other day from Quilting Susie, and I am afraid of her...)

Most of the sewing I do is mending, recycling t-shirts, making funky long dresses -- I enjoy the utility kind of stuff.

I have always thought sewing is like playing the piano.  Every single person who took piano lessons as a child developed in their own way -- some of us liked it, some of us couldn't wait to quit. Those that stuck with it eventually were attracted to the music that moves them -- be it jazz, or pop songs, or the classics. But only a few will be invited to Carnegie Hall. The rest of us do it strictly for our own entertainment...and isn't that okay?

I sew every day...today I might restyle some t-shirts into new pajamas for Lillian, tomorrow I might mend some blue jeans for John...and there is no way I can tell you how much joy it brings me...

Really -- isn't that the whole point?

There is no end to my sewing joy -- but tomorrow, I'm going to share my 2013 sewing guilty pleasure....and you might be surprised...