Every Quilt tells a story!!
(and I am trying to catch up on telling a few of my quilt stories)
My niece headed off to Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth, Texas this fall. I wanted to make her something “fun and funky” that would fit her personality.
I grabbed my inspiration from the TCU Hornfrog’s fight song which seems silly but has great history tied to it. I contacted the family to send me pieces of their clothing or some sort of message or keepsake so Kennedy would have a piece of each of us with her. I had no idea what the correct color of TCU was, so when I started receiving vintage t-shirts from her mom (also a TCU grad) in a big variety of purples, I knew I could do this.
Nolan’s favorite color is purple so he helped and I think he was sure this was for him. I promised him I would make him one for college! (excuse the laundry on the table- real life pic)
I apologize in advance for the cell phone pics, but I think you will get the concept.
When Kennedy was little she couldn’t say Lissa and she is the one that coined my nickname, IZZY.
I must be too lazy to do a quilt label, so I always have the quilter stitch my label in with the quilting stitches. ( thanks, Maggi Honeyman)
My brother sent me some text messages that he had kept. They were so sweet that I had to use them. I transferred them to fabric using an inkjet printer and Printed Treasures printable fabric. This is a picture of the back of the quilt. I used Purple Snuggles on the back so that this quilt could be dragged to football games on cold Texas winter nights. Okay, it is not that cold in Texas but I love the weight and feel of this fabric for quilt backs.
My mom probably kept every card, picture or note that Kennedy had ever sent her. My mom passed away last year and I knew pieces of Gammy needed to be included. Various notes and messages are used throughout.
Kennedy’s maternal grandmother passed away several years ago. Popsicle (grandad) sent me a box of clothes and as soon as I opened the box I could smell Mama Faye. Both Grandmothers are still a special part of Kennedy’s life and keeping a good eye on her.
In the left hand corner of the picture above is a copy of Kennedy’s baby blanket. I just took a picture of it and transferred to fabric.
Isn’t technology great? The printable fabric is washable and you can transfer almost anything to it.
I found a drawing of Kennedy and her mom. Had to use that!
Remember when people actually wrote letters? And kids always had to end with P.S. and P.S.S and
P.S.S.S. Thank you for my cleansing set.
It was a nightly ritual if you were with Gammy. You got to use all her fancy cleansers, cotton balls and
moisturizers no matter what your age.
My mom and Kennedy wrote letters back and forth quite often, but there was one small problem. Kennedy could not read cursive so my mom would write a letter, my brother would read it to her. But if there was anything “secret” that Gammy wanted to talk about such as boyfriends, etc., she would print it and put it in a special envelope labeled, FOR KENNEDY’S EYES ONLY.
My message to Kennedy was a piece of a T-shirt my brother gave me after I had brain surgery, What’s Your Superpower? I hope she thinks about all her many gifts / super powers that makes her such a special person. 
Really I promise the quilt is cool, but cell phone pics from a dorm room probably don’t showcase it best.
Some of her mom’s t-shirts were cut up and used as pieced letters, but a few of them had such strong messages that they needed to be highlighted on their own. Make It Possible, Make It Happen, Make It Yours.
I don’t have a pic, but I also sewed part of a TCU T-shirt to the bottom, back middle of the quilt. I did this so that the quilt could fold up into a Quillow, a quilt turned into a pillow. The main reason I did this is when the quilt is in use, she could also slide her feet into the little pocket for extra added warmth. I think ever I may have to add a foot pocket to all my quilts in the in the future.
My sister in law really knows how to throw a graduation party so I had to include this pic of my
granddaughter, Imrie enjoying the yummy cookies.
Riff, Ram, Bah Zoo
Lickety, Lickety, Zoo, Zoo
Who, Wah, Wah, Who
Give “em Heck, TCU.
Over and out. Thanks for listening to my story.
-modalissa
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