Have you ever made a T-shirt quilt?
I can finally say that I have!
Last winter my husband's sister asked me to make a quilt for her son for his high school graduation, and of course I said I would! What a perfect gift for my oldest nephew. I still remember dancing with him on my hip at my wedding -- when he was three. Now he's over 6 ft tall, and starting his first year of college.
And his mom kept LOTS of his T-shirts!
Of course none of them were the same size,
so the layout was tricky.
My girls (& our cat) loved helping figure out
this huge puzzle of a quilt!
I used various Kona solids to make the blocks even.
The largest T-shirt pieces measured about 14 inches, and I added fabric to the other pieces to make 24 square blocks. Some solid sashing around the edges helped make it large enough for a twin (extra long) bed.
This quilt is heavy! And was not so fun to quilt!
I interfaced each T-shirt piece prior to sewing them together, which added quite a bit of weight (and took forever)! But it made the stretchy T-shirt material much easier to work with -- so I can't imagine skipping this step.
I quilted straight lines vertically, about 3-4 inches apart, and then bound it in matching Kona solids, with a zig-zag stitch.
I'm so happy to have this quilt finished!
It was really fun watching my nephew open his graduation present -- he told his younger brother to beware that his mom might have already started stealing his T-shirts, too!
Good thing I have another 4 years until my second nephew graduates from high school.
But then there are 3 more after him, yikes!
Linking up to Fabric Tuesday.
what a great quilt for your nephew and will remind him of the times he wore the various t shirts, good that his Mum had hoarded them. I do like quilts made out of different sized blocks, they are the ones that seem to catch my eye at the quilt shows along with the applique ones.
ReplyDeleteGreat job, great gift. Well done.
ReplyDeleteYes, they do get heavy! Just wait until they start getting married. I've made 3 double wedding ring quilts for nieces and nephew.
ReplyDeleteWay to go! I need to try a T-shirt quilt with the girls' jr. high/high band T's. Do you know, there are 2 T-shirt quilts hanging in the Denver Capitol show - they look great there!
ReplyDeleteI've never really been into the idea of t-shirt quilts but I do really really like how your added some more interest by doing a log-cabin-ish thing around some of the blocks. This sort of quilt is perfect for a teen/young adult (much younger than me!! haha)
ReplyDeleteI've not made one yet, but great tip on the interfacing! I have loads from my rowing days at uni that I would love to turn into a quilt one day...
ReplyDeleteWell it turned out fantastic and you are so brave to give it a go! I am always way to scared to even attempt this sort of quilt!
ReplyDeleteOof, what an undertaking! It looks great, and he's going to love it!
ReplyDeleteYour corners are so perfectly matched, I wondered if you had interfaced the T-shirt fabric. You really did a great job of making the odd sizes work together. I hope your nephew loves and treasures it!
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