The Beginning of a T-shirt Quilt

I’ve been wanting to make a tshirt quilt for K for years and now need it for an example.  I’m not even sure it will end up at K’s anytime soon!  LOL!!  😉

Last week I sorted, interfaced, and trimmed shirts.  I found fabric I wanted to use online in lieu of an hour each way trip to peruse 4 “local” quilt shops.

Now I wish I would have taken a photo of the around 30 shirts in a BIG pile just taking up space and not being enjoyed.  You imagine that in your mind.

This collage shows some of the steps I take in getting the design to a size I can work with.

I make a master list of shirt designs (on some shirts I can use front and back and/or sleeve designs) with a color reference, the size and orientation of the final design, and a number.    I cut little templates and then glue them to a new page for how I’ll lay them out in the quilt.

Even tho I check my templates twice, I still laid the shirts out on the floor in about the same layout and checked that everything was oriented the correct way.

My favorite shirt of hers in this is the white VBS shirt.  It is signed by a lot of church friends, including JP.  So fun to save those memories!

The fill-in fabrics arrived on Tuesday instead of the estimated Thursday!  🙂  When does that ever happen?!

I HIGHLY recommend the pattern by Yellow Creek Quilt Designs if you want to make your own quilt.  Or if you don’t, you know you can contact me getting the quilt made.  🙂

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T-shirt Quilt – Final

Yesterday was Nick’s birthday and he got his quilt!!   🙂

I finished this in March and sent it off to his mom who kept it in safe keeping until his 17th birthday.   I thought you’d like to see the finished product.

It is about the size of an XLong Twin to accommodate his long legs & a future college dorm room bed.

I embroidered the label for the back:

I used the Memories for Sara pattern from HERE, (scroll to the right) which I highly recommend!!

I quilted it with white aurafil in the white shirts but mostly with Superior Rainbows thread for the top in the darker shirts & the filler blocks.  I used nearly 2 spools of green aurifil in the bobbin!!  That is a lot of quilting!!  🙂

Nick’s mom said he loved it and it was better than he expected.  He is so sweet!!   🙂

Happy Birthday!!

Other posts on the progress are HERE and   HERE.

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Update on the Tshirt Quilt

Not counting the interruptions of Christmas project sewing, my main sewing has been on Nick’s tshirt quilt.

Here is the post of the start of the project.

I probably have about 2/3 of it pieced but not all of it is pictured here.

Here is row 1:

The next few rows didn’t really go in rows as easily as this one.  So with a lot of partial seams (sewing term, they really are all sewn!) and a bit of sweat & tears ;)… here is most of the progress so far:

I have sections of the next 2 rows pieced and think there is only one after that.  So it is coming along.  I’m a bit behind my early (self-imposed) schedule but all is well with the mom so… all IS well!

🙂

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The Start of a TShirt Quilt

The last week or so I’ve spent most of my quilting time getting going on a t-shirt quilt for JP’s online friend, Nick.

{Actually this is the friend who came to visit last fall!  A delightful man and it was so very much fun to meet him!!

We connected (the mom & me and the guys) through the Sonlight forums sponsored by our favorite curriculum!  🙂  }

I’m using this pattern from a nearby quilt shop, where the owners wrote the pattern.

The tshirts have been backed with interfacing, cut to size per design, and I’ve completed a mock-up layout on graph paper.

I’m so glad the pattern said to number all those little boxes for the fill-in squares.  Would you have guessed, there are 555 squares and then some rectangles too?  I was surprised and laughed at the number.  🙂

Next weekend at Galena I can get the fabrics.  Or I have PC to fall back on if I need more choices.

I’m excited for this project!!  I’ll keep you posted.  🙂

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