This isn’t a *new* project, but I just found the photo and it sweetly reinforced why we all do what we do . . . create special things for special people to show how much we care. I remembered how happy my son Kyle was to get this quilt when he graduated from high school and how many homes it has lived in with him during his young adult years, and I thought about the warm feeling I get when I now see his little girls wrapped up in it watching a movie. I didn’t have a pattern or directions when I made it, so I simply cut out squares from the fronts or backs of T-shirts (mostly team shirts, but a couple from other treasured events), stitched them together, stitched the front to the back with batting in between, and stitched around the squares for “quilting.” The lower right-hand corner also has the T-shirt the pink ladies at the hospital gave us the day Kyle was born. (All together now . . . AWWWWWW! :)) The next time I make one, I think I’ll put fabric strips around the squares to set them apart a bit, like the one I recently saw on LoveLaughLiveMe . . . or maybe I’ll just turn them into pillows instead. ♥
Jun5
It’s beautiful!
I’m planning on making my daughter one for her high school graduation. She’s about to turn 12 (on the 10th) and I’ve been saving special tshirts for a while, ones from her school plays, dance recitals, things like that. I’m pretty excited about it.
Good for you! I LOVE it that you’re planning ahead. She will be SO touched to get her quilt and will treasure it always. I hope we’re all still blogging when it happens so I can see it. 🙂
I LOVE this idea! I don’t currently have a sewing machine, but I want one so badly, especially after seeing awesome projects like this one! Beautiful job, and what a great way to relive happy memories of team events, etc. 😀
Thank you! You can get a no-frills sewing machine for such a good price these days. Mine (which has been in the family for decades) only does straight and zig-zag stitch (plus has a buttonhole attachment) but it works fine for the simple things I make. I hope you get to follow your dream soon! 🙂
This would be a great option for all those old t-shirts my husband can’t bear to part with because they are from his kids!
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Cheers,
Laura
Yes . . . he would LOVE that! I hope you get to make one! 🙂
Oh! u have done lovely job. Thanks for featuring me in your article.
http://lovelaughliveme.wordpress.com/
You’re very welcome! Seeing your post this morning helped me get with it and finish writing mine. Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂
I guess that is what this world is about, inspiring each other!
I need to make one of these soon, too!
I can’t wait to see it! 🙂
What a great way to preserved well-loved T-shirts! The baby shirt in the corner is adorable. It’s nice you were able to include it. 🙂
That is Kyle’s little girls’ favorite part of the quilt. They can’t believe their daddy was ever that tiny! 🙂
This is very nice..you just inspired me to turn my daughter’s old baby clothes into something… i have 2 projects now – a pillow and a quilt! 🙂
Yay! A baby clothes quilt version sounds SO adorable! I can’t wait to see it! 🙂
What a great solution for what to do with all those old t-shirts you don’t wear anymore but just can’t part with!
Thank you, Kelly! 🙂
OH I Love how that turned out…
Thank you so much for visiting and for your compliment! 🙂
What a novel idea. I have some keepsakes of my children though I’m certain I don’t have enough to make a quilt. What a shame. Nice work pillows and thanks so much for visiting my site. Have a super evening.
Thank you for the nice compliment . . . and thank you for visiting Pillowsalamode! 🙂
I love creative stuff just made up without a pattern. It doesn’t always work but at least it’s unique and maybe even an heirloom.
Aaahhh . . . thank you for the vote of confidence. 🙂 I have SO many ideas that haven’t worked, so it’s always nice when something does! 🙂
My mother made me a quilt like this with t-shirts that I had when I was a kid all the way through college. And it’s one of my favorite things I own. So special.
That’s so sweet! 🙂
Thank you for visiting and commenting on my Blog.
I love the T-shirt Quilt, I think they are a great Idea and eventually I will get round to making one. I also love the Pillow Gift Baskets you did:)
Thank you for your sweet compliments! I haven’t looked at the pillow gift basket pics for a long time . . . they were SO fun to make! I’ll be following your blog! 🙂
Absolutely beautiful! I like the way you sewed it too. I prefer it with no fabric between the blocks. 🙂
Oh, thank you! I made it up as I went along, so I’m pretty lucky that it worked! 🙂
You’re inspiring me–Boy#2 would like to have his T-shirts made into a quilt and I’ve dragged my feet, but I may have to give this a try.
It’s really easy, MomQueenBee, and he will love it forever! I’m sure you can find some better tutorials on Pinterest. 🙂 I think you should go for it! (P.S. You probably recognize some of these T-shirt logos!)
Very nice! I have a friend who wants to make a T-shirt quilt. I’ll share this post with her.
How nice! She will love making one! Thank you!
I adore this idea! I’ve never heard of t-shirt quilts. What a fabulous way to use up the old t-shirts my son outgrows!
And now that you know, you can start saving them now! 🙂 Thank you for checking it out! 🙂
Do you find it stretched much while sewing or did you use any interfacing?
It did stretch some . . . but it’s also super-soft. I’ve seen lots of tutorials that use interfacing though, so that’s probably the way to go! 🙂
I really love this! My husband and I love to travel and I’m thinking it might be great to start picking up T-shirts from different places that we have camped and visited. Would be great to have as a way to look back fondly on our adventures together.
I LOVE that idea! I wish I’d done that during my travels . . . but I guess it’s not too late to start now, right? Enjoy! 🙂
Never too late… there is always a “next chapter” in our everyday adventures! 🙂
Such a good idea – and a great way to recycle old clothes! Ben Venom does similar stuff and exhibits all round the US. You might like him: http://blackcatoriginals.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/quilting-with-venom/ Let me know what you think!
Wow . . . those are amazing! Thanks for the link! 🙂
I bought a sewing machine for the express purpose of making a t-shirt quilt! I have been terrified to take it out of the box, but you inspired me!
Yay!!! You’ll love it! I’d recommend starting with something easy, like a pillow, to get acquainted with your machine. Then the sky’s the limit! Good luck! 🙂
I think I’m over my trepidation and I’m getting ready to tackle the t-shirt quilt! I started laying out the design on my floor (because my tables aren’t big enough), and of course the dogs tried to sleep on my rough draft. I’m wondering if you laid out the entire pattern before starting or if you designed sections and then put them all together.
I laid them out first (either on the floor or the bed . . . can’t remember!). I’m so excited that you’re making one! Can’t wait to see it on your blog!!! Good luck! 🙂
Hi…Quick question for you (I was looking for an email to contact you directly but I couldn’t find one)…I have a planned post coming up next friday about a little project I did with one of Annabelle’s old t-shirts, and I wanted to link this post about your T-Shirt Quilt as another idea of what to do with old shirts…But I (of course) wanted to get your permission first…let me know if it’s ok!! Thanks. Kelly
My email if you’d rather reply there is: cobwebscupcakesandcrayons@yahoo.com
Oh, that would be lovely! And I can’t wait to read about your project! 🙂
Great…Thank you!
Reblogged this on CrescentMelissa and commented:
How precious would this be with all of the kids old tshirts? One for each kid. Ambitious I know but I will definitely add something like this to my list of things I will make someday.
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i love that—i have been hoping to do that and didn’t know whether or not i had to do interfacing for each square. sounds from the comments like it’s fine either way!
I agree! The one I made is super-soft, but interfacing would give one a little more body. Either way, it will be loved! 🙂
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