I think the motto of the Great Plains is "Let's get t-shirts!" After high school, I had t-shirts from marching band, trips, class of '02, graduation, events, and other really random stuff. One person can never wear all of those t-shirts, they tend to sit around in boxes taking up lots of space. But then my mom The Seriously Good Sewing Wizardess came up with the great idea of making a quilt out of my high school t-shirts. I loved it and it's been my car blanket ever since.
But then came college and even more t-shirts! Marching band, dorm floor, philanthropy events, Campus Crusade, athletics, pep band, taekwondo, and everything else that makes me happy. The shirts took up a lot of space in my closet, so for Christmas I asked my mom to make me another t-shirt quilt but this time with twice as many t-shirts. So here it is! It's twin sized. Not only is it special because it displays so many good memories, but my mom made it. :)
I have two big bags of t-shirts that I no longer wear and have been hanging on to for years for just this same purpose. I even recently bought myself a sewing machine so I could actually start this project, but right now all I have is a sewing machine still in it's box, a pile of shirts, and an inspiration. Did your mom use a pattern from somewhere or did she just make up her own?
ReplyDeleteNo pattern used. I got the basic concept off the internet and just had fun with it. Lots of potential variations! Other things you will need are an iron and a rotary cutting system.
ReplyDeleteThis style of quilt is termed a strip quilt. Doesn't refer to sewing in the buff, but to the fact that I constructed long strips of matching width, sewed those together and then finished the quilt. This would be in contrast to a block quilt, where a person pieces blocks that are then sewed together.
Purchased components of the project are the fusible interfacing, quilt batting, backing and edging fabrics, buying fun stuff like NU fabric, and paying someone else to do the machine quilting. I am a careful shopper and did well on all of the purchases. Because of the fusing on the back of the tshirts and the rubbery inks in the designs, it is not recommended to simply tie a tshirt quilt.
I can give more details if someone is interested. It is a fun project to tackle! I am excited about two upcoming quilt projects - one will use my son's tshirts and Japanese bathrobes, and the other will be for my daughter-in-law utilizing western styled shirts from a much loved great uncle.
Love it! I made one like this for Paul with all of his junior high and high school tshirts. I also set aside mine in a bag for the same purpose, but somehow it got mixed up with clothes for donation, and sad to say it is no longer with us. Oh well, I guess that's why I scrapbook! :)
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