50 States Before 50
 

My best friend had a goal of skydiving in every state before her 50th birthday. She wanted to make the 50th state a skydive out of a hot air balloon and her 1,000th jump. She actually met that goal with her husband one week before her 50th birthday.

I've never wanted to make a t-shirt quilt, but what do you get for your best friend's birthday who has been asking for one for years and has accomplished such a monumental feat? She gave me a stack of t-shirts that she had collected in different states. She didn't have one for each state, and 50 would have been too many to fit on one quilt anyway.

I made sure each state was represented with the state names quilted around the perimeter. I also quilted airplanes, hot air balloons, and clouds in the sashing around the t-shirts.

I thought the cloud fabric sashing was perfect for this quilt, but would never recommend a directional print for another background. I had to make sure every piece of fabric had the clouds going horizontal... including the tiny squares on the ends of the "shadow" strips.

I also included a few pictures printed on Printed Treasures inkjet printable fabric... a picture she took when she left the hot air balloon, her and her husband exiting the airplane over Hawaii, and her brand new tattoo showing the date she finished the 50th state.

I haven't given her a hint about what it looks like. I can't wait to give it to her.

Amazing quilt!

Congrats to her on her 50th jump and Happy Birthday to her also.

That is very special! and you are a great friend to make something like that for her.

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*** A beautiful & very thoughtful quilt. She will love it.
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Thanks... but it was her 1,000th jump and 50th state. Her husband made his 1,300th jump and 50th state on the same day. I'm really proud and envious of them.

That is an amazing quilt...you did an incredible job. A treasure for sure!

what a wonderful dream and accomplishment and a friend who made the dream catcher quilt to capture her memories

You can't get any better than that! What a fantastic memory quilt for her, great job!

oops! Thanks for clarifying that. :)
Truly amazing husband and wife team. Wow I couldn't even fathom jumping out of a plane.