If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll remember that last year I decided to run 13 half marathons in 79 days. It wasn’t just an arbitrary goal – I wanted to reach Venus level with the Half Fanatics. OK, well maybe that is arbitrary LOL.
Of course, that got me 13 for 2015 and that just wasn’t going to fly, so I found 2 more half marathons. And then it got all crazy up in here and I ran 2 more. Oops.
17 half marathons in one year.
As you might guess, I felt pretty proud of my accomplishment and I wanted to commemorate my craziness determination. I thought about new running clothes or shoes, but I buy those all the time. I thought about some new jewelry (and did actually get some awesome Scott James jewelry as a ZOOMA ambassador.) But then I came up with the perfect thing: a quilt made out of my t-shirts. After all, I never wear the race shirts anyways.
One thing I knew: I wanted a true quilt, not a blanket where my shirts were pieced together with a backing. Nothing wrong with those, but I wanted something different.
Somehow (I think on the Half Fanatic Facebook group), I stumbled upon Katie Mae Quilts. She got great reviews from everyone who had used her, so I approached her about making a quilt for me. She was so awesome to work with!
She offered me some suggested a few different options based on the number of shirts I had and we came up with a pattern I liked. Then she told me to pick my fabrics. I’ll be honest, I wanted her to do that. I suck at visual design of any sort. But I did it.
I found 3 fabrics that went well together, matched my bedroom color scheme, and didn’t clash horribly with my shirts. I sent off the shirts and she took it from there.
I could not be more pleased. Despite a snafu with one of the shirts bleeding (if you are sending cotton tie dye, wash it first. Several times.), the quilt turned out beautifully. I love that she took the time to layout the shirts in a way that balanced the crazy colors and highlighted my most important races.
I love that she quilted in my Half Fanatic number. (Bonus points if you can tell me what the number is.)
I love that she took the snafu in stride and immediately came up with a way to fix it (you can’t even tell that she did).
From start to finish, this was a wonderful process and the end result is just gorgeous!
I’d highly recommend Katie and her work. It wasn’t cheap, but it was worth every penny. 2014 was an amazing running year for me and I love that I have a way to commemorate it in a useful manner.
Disclaimer: Katie gave me a small discount and shipped the quilt back to me for free. All opinions are my own and the quilt is absolutely worth what she normally charges.
I love it! I’ve looked at bags and coasters but never actually done it. This is such a pretty and practical option. Kudos on 17 half marathons!
Alison @ racingtales recently posted…Ironman 70.3 Raleigh Training Week 9: CUCB Cherry Blossom 9.5 mile race
Thanks! It sort of took over my life LOL. I love this because it’s useful instead of just more clutter.
I literally was saying this weekend I wanted to do it. I love that you did.
It took me ages to get around to doing. So glad that I finally did!
great idea! I have so many!
I’m so happy with it. Glad I finally did it.
That’s gorgeous! I don’t have a lot of race shirts but I realized I don’t wear them as often as I thought I would. I wear my WDW half long sleeve shirt all the time, but the others are just hanging in the closet. I could even throw in my one I Did It shirt for fun.
Lesley recently posted…IT Band Rolling
I have a few women’s cut light colored shirts that I wear a lot for training, but so many shirts just don’t fit me right…
Love the quilt – such a great idea for all of those race shirts!!!
Kim recently posted…I Want to Learn to be Spontaneous
It really turned out well. I’m quite pleased. And 13 shirts not in my drawer LOL.
Super cute! The one I got was a little thinner it looks and fleece backed but I love it! Enjoy yours
Deborah Brooks @ Confessions of a Mother Runner recently posted…Women’s Health Action Hero 2015
Yeah, those looked nice, but I really love the look of real quilt and this one is so well made I’m sure it will hold up to anything my kids throw at it.
I did the fleece backing type quilt with my other race shirts (and its nice) but am saving my half shirts for a real quilt. She did an amazing job. Is the # 4618? The first digit is difficult!
HoHo Runs recently posted…Plan To Be Spontaneous
It says “HF 182”. Tricky. ;o)
This is a wonderful idea! Yours looks awesome.
Thanks! I really love how well it turned out!
That’s such a lovely way to remember all the great things you’ve done.
Char recently posted…Only 12 Weeks To Go
Thanks! I love it!