You know how everyone looks for a job where they can feel like they make a difference? There are so many times in my quilting when I absolutely KNOW that I have made a difference. This next quilt is one of those times. I am making a memorial quilt to help a family celebrate a special father who is dearly missed. Mary Jo brought over a box of her father's work shirts and asked me to design a quilt to be given to her mother from the family. I am so humbled when I get an opportunity to create an heirloom to help celebrate a life of someone who is so obviously loved and missed. I can't believe I'm lucky enough to bring people closer together through fabric! It makes me look forward to getting out of bed! The plan initially was to put together 9" panels from all of her dad's shirts with three borders (two solid and one pieced). A few weeks ago I saw a posting by Sarah S. from Sandwich, Il. She helped a client make a pieced shirt block that was just wonderful. I began tossing around the idea in my head and had decided to contact Mary Jo to ask her about including a few of pieced shirt blocks in the memorial quilt. But before I could call her she called me and asked the exact same thing! Take a look at a small peek of the layout. Their are four shirt blocks scattered throughout (2 more rows are cropped out of this photo). I will be quilting a little ties on them. Won't it be wonderful?