Fellow quilter, wouldn't you like to do something fun, useful -- even beautiful -- with all those old worn-out tee shirts you just can't bear to part with? If the t-shirts taking up space in a drawer or cupboard belong to someone else, clearing out the space by making them into something your loved one will enjoy feels even more satisfying.
Here's a suggestion: take a set of favorite old shirts, cut out the interesting parts, and use them to make a tee shirt quilt.
It's easier than you might think to make a good-looking t-shirt quilt. There are three steps:
- Choosing which t-shirts to include in the shirt. You may want to organize the shirts in the quilt by color, by event (such as a set of annual shirts from your favorite football team or fun run), by theme, such as a set of shirts from your favorite rock bands, or by size.
- Deciding on a design. The traditional way is to sew the shirts into a simple grid with sashing to separate them, like this:
but there are lots of ways to give your quilt a bit more style. - Prepare the tee shirts for quilting. The fabric in t-shirts is stretchy, so you need to stabilize it before you cut and sew it, to avoid pulling the shirt out of shape.
- Sewing the tee shirt blocks together, quilting, and binding the quilt.
Making a T-Shirt Quilt a Memory Quilt
You can add interest to a tee shirt quilt by including photos, autograph quilt blocks, and traditional blocks with a related theme. A bear's paw block makes a great element in a quilt featuring tee shirts from the University of California at Berkeley Bears football team.
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