My “Texas Stars†quilt and pattern will be in the November issue of The Quilt Pattern Magazine!
“Texas Stars†Lap Quilt design by TK Harrison
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“Texas Stars” Lap Quilt design by TK Harrison
SO excited to see my “Texas Stars” quilt and pattern will be in the November issue of The Quilt Pattern Magazine! If you look at the whole quilt design, you should be able to see a great big KISS in the middle of this quilt (hint: look for the X). How much fun it is to see any of my designs published in this great, downloadable online magazine!
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Sometime in November 2014, one of my daughter’s friend’s mother asked if I would make a t-shirt quilt for her graduating daughter (whom I’ll call T). I was still having side effects from the failed MS therapy so was not ready to commit to doing anything that required a timeline. I had so much to do already and no gumption to do any of it. I did not relay this info to the mother because I had no idea when I would come out from my funk and be rearing to quilt again. I basically ignored the question.
In January 2015, I found out our friends were coming near where we live and wanted to get together for lunch. They also wanted to see the t-shirt quilt I was making for their daughter and son-in-law. Except, all I’d done on that quilt was stabilize the t-shirts and cut them to-size. And buy the fabric. I had to work fast and furious, over the course of a week, to get that quilt top finished. And I did it!
A week or two later, I found a paper sack on my cutting table. I knew I didn’t put it there so started asking around the house. Finally, my daughter said her friend’s mom sent the bag home with her, to give to me. As I peered inside, I saw t-shirts. This was the t-shirt quilt I ignored. UGH
Another week or two later, I decided to take a look at what T’s mom sent. As I pulled out the t-shirts, they weren’t what I expected. T has been in the one-act play group at school and I expected her play t-shirts. What I got, instead, were camp t-shirts. Summer camp t-shirts. Church summer camp t-shirts. I pulled them out of the bag, not paying attention to anything on them except for the years. I had t-shirts from the summer of 2007 through 2014.
And once again, I did nothing more with them.
Until I realized I didn’t have a whole lot of time to finish the quilt top and it was way past time when T’s mom could hire someone else to make the t-shirt quilt.
I start going through the shirts and really paying attention to them because I need to figure out what will and won’t work for the quilt and the sizes they need to be.
While reading the shirts, I came across this on a shirt:
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now have in the flesh, I have by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Galatians 2:20
This is what I call a “God Moment” in my life. You see, I was confirmed at the end of my ninth-grade school year and each of the confirmands in my grade had to choose a Bible verse that they felt suited them. Then we had to memorize it and recite it to the congregation during our confirmation church service. THIS was my Bible verse. I can still recite this verse from memory – and its meaning continues to speak to me, about me.
There was absolutely no doubt in my mind, after seeing this verse on one of those t-shirts, that I was meant to make this t-shirt quilt for T.
I purchased a used Tin Lizzy Eighteen longarm and frame about three years ago. It has sat in the boxes until about three months ago because we didn’t have anyplace to put it up. Once the quilt studio was finished, my husband’s first task was to get that longarm set up so I knew how much room was left in the studio for all of my quilting paraphernalia.
We knew that I may not be able to run the longarm because of the side effects of my MS so hubby set it all up and then searched high and lo to find instructions and ideas and everything-under-the-sun about topics such as threading the machine, what quilt thread worked best, etc. etc.
Once I helped him with a few housekeeping instructions, he’s not a quilter so I had to explain some terminology and longarm quilting advice.
Once he had that info, he went to town! He finished quilting a baby quilt and was SO VERY PROUD of his accomplishment – as well he should be! With only a few errors, he got on a roll and never backed down – even when I shared my seam ripper with him for some boo-boos 🙂
Without further ado – here he is with the 40″ square baby quilt he quilted:
And when one of our daughters pointed out that ‘read men don’t quilt’ I had to follow that up with the names of male quilters that I virtually knew of and she backed down. ;-) ©2015 TK Harrison ~ All Rights Reserved.
There is the national organization, Quilts of Valor Foundation (QOV), a non-profit group that delivers beautiful quilts to our service men and women. It is a fabulous non-profit group that is from any quilted hearts.
But, with so many of our service members from the most current conflicts in the past 10 years, there are dwindling numbers of older Veteran’s who have yet to be recognized with a quilt. I do not see that there are any WWI Veteran’s still alive and the numbers of WWII Veteran’s are now dying off. The Veteran’s from the Korean and Vietnam wars/conflicts are now mostly senior citizens and, again, there are more deaths each day from those who served during the 1950’s and 1960’s.
And unfortunately, QOV can barely keep up with the most recent returning Veteran’s, either wounded or not. Which leaves our older Veteran’s perhaps recognized on a local level but rarely on a national level.
Enter in Military Veteran Quilts. I started this website and hopefully, with the help of volunteers, it will grow legs and race across the United States – to help recognize those older service men and women who have yet to be noticed by the QOV. Once the concept came to me, I wanted our first quilt to be made for someone local. Our county’s American Legion was our Girl Scout Service Unit sponsor so naturally (I was a Girl Scout leader here for three years), that was the first place I looked for a recipient. And then I recalled that the current Commander of our American Legion lived right here in the town that we lived in. I didn’t have to look any further. He was my chosen Veteran to receive the first Military Veteran Quilt.
Here is the Commander, reading the words written on the back of his quilt.
Here is the Commander holding his quilt.
The Commander was in the Vietnam War as a Marine. I machine appliqued these small round emblems onto the four corners of his quilt. “Once a Marine, Always a Marine”
This first Military Veteran Quilt‘s fabric was donated by AbbiMays.com, the designing and piecing by myself and the quilting donated by Meloney Funk (herself an Air Force Veteran for 27 years). To find out more about Military Veteran Quilts, please click on the link and visit our website. Please remember to honor the older Veteran’s, too, as they deserve it for their service to our country!