I admit it. I am a tee shirt kind of girl. Tees are what I wear. I've worn a lot of them.

Recently, I've been trying to purge myself of much of my stored memories and junk. But I couldn't bring myself to throw some of my favorite old tee shirts away. So I got an idea.

I have a friend who is a seamstress. She uses a treadle sewing machine to make pot holders and other up-cycled items made from reused materials. I gave her some of my old tee shirts and some other material from old shorts and blouses I bought years ago in Guatemala. I asked her to fabricate some "memory hangings" out of the shirts. I am posting photos of the hangings.

My favorite is probably the San Fermin tee from the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain in 1977. The bull runs are conducted every year between July 7 and 14th. This was from a special year because of the date it began: 7-7-77. What a fun 24/7 party that was and now I have a lasting memory from that time.

I also had a hanging made from my Big Mountain Support Group tee that I wore proudly in support of the struggles of the Hopi and Navajo who were being exploited by Peabody Coal back in the 80's and probably still are today.

"The Year of the Postman" tee commemorates the filming of the Kevin Costner film in my area. I know a lot of people who were extras in that film. We kept showing up at the wrong time to apply for parts, so my kids and I didn't make it in the film. But it was an exciting time and now I have a memory hanging to remind me.

"The Party's Over" hanging of Spuds McKenzie was actually taken from a pair of oversized shorts that we bought on our honeymoon down in Mexico. The shorts came in handy when my youngest son was recovering from surgery and had to wear a cage around his leg for 8 months. I cut the seam of the shorts and sewed velcro on to make it easier for my son to get the shorts on and off. More memories...

I also added a Pampers tee that I wore a lot back in the 90's. It was ironic to say the least as I never once used a plastic diaper on either of my two kids. Not once. My oldest son recently helped me purge and he threw this tee in my rag bin. I have never been able to bring myself to cut it up for rags. I just dug it out of the bin to share with you today.

It's not only the wearing of tees that I love. I also am a volunteer merchandizer of tee shirts. Here I am working the crowds at an anti Nuke event down at Hanford, WA last year. That's Dorli Rainey, the octogenarian dynamo who was pepper sprayed by Seattle Police during an Occupy event. Here she and I are showing off our Citizens for a Clean Columbia tee shirts that I sell for the group.

Well, there you have it. Proof that I am a tee shirt freak.

Thanks for reading and sharing in my memories.