Who says ironing pads have to be ugly?

I have quite a few ironing pads, in different sizes - 2' x 4' is the biggest, and then there's 2' x 2', 1' x 1', 12" x 18", 13" x 13", and 18" x 18".  I just like having a lot of different size ironing pads for whatever I'm working on.  When I originally made them, I used a bland, solid beige duckcloth on them.  That was before I realized that duckcloth comes in a LOT of great looking patterns.  So I decided to recover them and jazz them up some.  Melissa picked out the green and I picked out the blue.  I really like how they turned out.  No more boring ironing pads!

Remembering Ted Wade

A couple of months ago, a fellow history and genealogy friend, Deb Wade, asked me if I could make her a memory quilt from her husband's shirts.  Her husband, Ted Wade, had recently passed away on March 10, 2012.  I was honored to be asked to do something like this that was so deeply personal for her.  She brought me a large box of Ted's shirts which were mostly western style with the shell button snaps.  She also brought me a vest and tie that Ted liked to wear when they went out somewhere special together.  She asked if I could applique that into the center of the quilt, since it was such a signature memory about Ted.  I thought it was a great idea. 

So below is a picture of the finished quilt.  It's king sized, measuring 102" x 102" and features fabrics from every single shirt she brought me.  I used the shell button snap strips from the fronts of the shirts to outline the border areas as well.  After I was finished quilting it, I appliqued the vest, white shirt, and the black tie to the top of the quilt center. 

Thank you, Deb, for letting me have a special role in creating this wonderful memory of Ted for you.

(click on picture for a larger view)

 

Ted Wade