Creative Happy Tuesdays: T-Shirt Memory Quilt Blanket is Done!

Woohoo! I finally finished my t-shirt memory quilt blanket! I started working on this on May 11, 2019! I worked on it on and off because the materials were in Manila. I eventually brought it to Singapore in January 2020. Thought I'd finish it there, but I didn't since I got busy with work and then was in and out of the hospital. 

Told myself I'll finish it this year. My deadline kept moving mainly because of my health. I just worked on it whenever I felt well. Worked on it slowly, but surely. I made bite-sized targets until I finally added the binding last weekend. The last stitch was added on August 20, 2022 (3 years 3 months and 9 days/831 days). 

Here's a tutorial on how I made it:

I also have a step by step guide here in case you want to try making one.

#BeKind #StaySafe

I Wish

I wish I could attend the rally tomorrow! I've been following the plans of the contingent of Scholasticans attending the rally. Aside from planning where to meet, they have also been sharing tips on how to survive the rally. I'll just join online and hope the internet will be stable. 

I've been spending more time offline this month. I've been doing things that make me happy so I could recover faster from the booster shot I got. Yes, recovery has been very slow. I've been doing activities to push myself and develop more stamina. On Monday I puttered around my tiny garden. The lettuce I planted in January hasn't really grown (both in soil and the hydroponics set-up). I'm not entirely sure why, so I decided to plant a new batch. Surprisingly, the seeds sprouted just after two days. Here's how it looks today -

Hope this would be a better batch.

On Tuesday, I worked on my memory quilt. Slowly piecing it together. I decided to take a photo of each shirt I used. I realized each one holds so many memories. It's something I could probably blog about since I never really wrote about what I experienced within 15 years. I did start writing a book about it. Still thinking whether I should continue it. Anyway, I hope to finish the quilt blanket this quarter. 

Wednesday was a busy day. We had to do adulting tasks for our three homes. It's hard and I realized managing an "ancestral house" (that's what the engineer called Mom's house since it's over 50 years old). Learning a lot though and I told Miggy to move us to a smaller home when we get older. If you are a homeowner and want to keep your home, make sure to have a budget to fix things at set times. 

I had to rest on Thursday because I had too much activity on Wednesday. Spent most of my time sewing and just sprayed neem oil on my plants. Also decided to proceed with our investment to use solar energy. It will save us a lot of money in the long run and it's one of the items that has a clear option to reduce cost. 

We were supposed to do some adulting stuff again today, but I feel I need to rest. Miggy and I have been watching "Our Great National Parks" on Netflix. It's the show former President Obama is narrating. It's interesting to watch because it shows how nature can recover if it's given space. They also show some never before seen animals. It's just 7 episodes and we're almost done. I plan to watch "Is it Cake?" next. 

For the weekend, will plan some family time and plan to watch the rally online. I wish though they'll also stream it on YouTube since it's more stable than watching livesteams on FB, plus it's easier to cast on TV. 

Making a T-shirt Quilt Blanket to Preserve Memories

Woke up with a slight fever again. Grrrrr! I don't feel unwell though, just warm. This means I need to adjust my day again. I was planning to start working on my tshirt quilt blanket. It's been waiting to be worked on for 3 years now! 

I started cutting shirts when I was on break in late 2019. Brought back the shirts in Singapore and thought I'd be able to work on it. Nope, got busy with work and then I focused on finishing other quilt projects first. Thought I'd be able to start working on it during quarantine, but I ended up just sleeping during the six days we were stuck in a hotel, haha. By now, the project has been through six "homes" - previous home in Paranaque, 2nd to the last flat in SG, last flat in SG, quarantine hotel, back to previous home in Paranaque and now new home. It's one well traveled project! 

Now the old tshirts I cut up are finally on my makeshift sewing table. I did some planning the other night with Miggy. I normally get his help to match colors. We decided to use denim for the borders since I'm using tshirts. It should make it look more cohesive that way. 

I collected all the shirts I got since 2006. They are all precious to me and hold so many memories. I could probably tell a story out of each tshirt. Most though don't fit me anymore. I'm only able to wear now the recent ones I got. I'm quite sentimental so I thought I'd preserve the shirts by making a blanket. I hope it turns out okay.

Not to worry about the retaso from the shirts. I gave it to my Mom and she's created stuff out of it. She's really more creative than me. It will take awhile to finish this quilt project since some additional steps have to be done to stabilize the fabric. I can go on and on about it, but I'll just make a video sa takdang panahon haha. I hope it doesn't take me two years to finish!

While the cats are away, the mouse will play! Haha. 

#BeKind #StayHome