In Memory of Linda Diane (aka Nikki's quilt)

Today is a very different type of post for me.  It is about a quilt for someone I have never met and do not know because of someone they love very much who I also have never met and do not know.  It is amazing how people can be brought together.  Nikki was put in contact with me through the wife of my huband's nephew in Texas; they are close friends.  You can read the full story of Nikki's Quilt in the posts at the beginning of my blogging:  http://pennyquilt.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2015-01-17T16:40:00-08:00&max-results=3&reverse-paginate=true and here:http://pennyquilt.blogspot.com/2015_01_01_archive.html

I had a hard time making myself finish this quilt because I have been swamped with quilting AND because I was terrified.  For those of you who have done t-shirt quilts, you may understand my concerns.  I have heard that it is difficult to quilt on t-shirts and that it can be a disaster.  The only part of this quilt that was t-shirts was the backing so that helped.  The front of the quilt is from cotton blouses and the border is from a blue jean top.  However, the blouses were often worn and seemed somewhat thinner than I would have liked so they were a slight concern.  Soooooo, I used the best of everything when I put this quilt together.  I can't remember the stabilizer but I did a lot of research and made sure it was put together well.  Because of that, the embroidery and quilting were absolutely no problem.  I am thrilled with the finish and Nikki is too!  If you haven't read the older posts, this quilt was made from clothes worn by Nikki's mom, Linda, who died from cancer.

So my finish for this week:  Nikki's Quilt (in memory of her mother, Linda Diane).  Please note that I have removed part of Linda's name in these pictures.  So if the top part of the quilt looks funny, I used a tool I found to cover part of the name.

I made a very simple rail fence, because I understand Linda was a very simple lady.

The two pieces at the top were actually taken from a t-shirt that Nikki remembered her mom wearing.  I couldn't fit it into the blocks so I cut these pieces from the shirt.  They have crystals on them and showed up beautifully on the quilt.

The embroidery was completed with my Bernina 770 and worked like a charm.  I used to do this by hand with free motion embroidery but creating it with software was much easier.

The border on the blue jean fabric was quilted with feathers but I used very simple free form feathers to keep the quilt clean and simple but yet elegant.

The crystals on the appliqué show up well in this photo:

Here is the backing.  The center was created from two themed t-shirts and then surrounded by other t-shirts.  

The quilting in the center was done using a light blue Signature 40 weight cotton thread.  I was concerned about using the heavier thread with the top but the quilting was simple with loops and large petal flowers.

All I know about Linda is what Nikki has shared but I understood Linda to be a very simple lady and yet elegant and the goal of this quilt was to mimic the feeling of who Linda was.  Nikki is very happy so I would say "mission accomplished".  

I'll be linking up my finish today over at http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com.   Come join me and see what other's are making.  Have a wonderful weekend and consider how you can be a blessing to someone else!