My daughter has been asking me to make her a t-shirt quilt for about 3 years now (if not longer). She’s given me lots of t-shirts to use for just that purpose, too.
So many, in fact, that she asked me to separate them out, and make her one t-shirt quilt out of just the t-shirts she gets from work. And they make a t-shirt for nearly everything, evidently.
She just relocated to San Diego, and has a brand new office, and wanted the quilt to hang on the wall in her office.
I did not keep track of how many t-shirts went into this quilt, but I did manage to use every printed bit from every single one of them and here is the quilt I made her:
I also had to guess at the size, but it fit on the wall in her new office just perfectly!I put a hanging sleeve on the back of it, and split it in the middle, so she could use a curtain rod with a center bracket to hang it with for extra support (because t-shirt quilts are heavy).
It measures 84″ x 84″ square. I used all the printed parts of all the t-shirts, and filled in with regular fabrics to fit them all together like a puzzle. I even made a couple of star blocks using the t-shirt sections. I worked in 4 equal-sized sections for easier handling, then just sewed the four finished sections together to complete the top. I put regular cotton prints on the back (pieced from stash), and used a very low-loft polyester batting inside. It’s just quilted with a medium-sized all-over meander, so as not to detract from the shirts. It’s a busy quilt! I told her it would make a great conversation piece in her office!
She is very happy with it, and now I guess I need to get out the other leftover t-shirts and get started on one for her to use in her apartment, huh?
You know I just really have not ever been a big fan of t-shirt quilts, but I just love how you did this. Looks great and I especially like those star blocks. You did an awesome job! I now may even try to make one at some point in the future.
Just love it. You put quite a bit of work on it and it shows.
Wow, nice job! Sometimes it’s so hard to use so many tshirts- I love it!
Very nice. I do like all the colors in it.
The t-shirts tell quite a story about your daughter. What a great conversation piece!
I LOVE IT MOM! Every one who walks in to my office takes about 10 minutes of my day asking all kinds of questions about it. It’s so amazing it’s become a nuissance. I need an assistant just to answer questions about it, and I should probably have a stand next to it with your business cards now that I think about it. The most common question is “OMG WHERE CAN I GET ONE?” haha
Great job. I have made several also but not real happy with stabilizer I used. What did you use and would you use the same thing again. Thanks for sharing.
I used Pellon XTRM Fusible XE45. It’s a real lightweight iron-on interfacing.
I’m with Cindy. I’m not a big fan of t-shirt quilts. I always wonder what the fascination is. And I think talented quilters are wasting their time messing with them. So now that I have rained on this parade, I’ll just put up my umbrella and quit commenting. Well, except to say that it is a pretty nice one! And it hangs nicely in that office.
Oh, Shelly, this is great! I’m sure she loves it. I do!!
You gave me a three new ideas for my next t-shirt quilt (#4).
Idea #1… incorporate a quilt block into the pattern like you did with the “Star Block”.
Idea #2… split the sleeve into 2 parts so the rod could have a center support. (My second t-shirt quilt was set with Denim and the finished king-sized quilt weighed in at 15#!)
Idea #3… it is not necessary to “frame” each t-shirt block, they look good butted up to each other.
My quilts are not the typical “columns and rows”–my designs are more like yours–random, puzzle-like, but have sashing of various widths in between. Much more exciting to look at!
Don’t toss the leftover sleeves and backs (or large parts of the t-shirts, they make great rags!!
Thanks for the tips.
Shelly, your quilt definitely brings the bar for t-shirt quilts WAY up! I love it.
Shelly, that is just one awesome quilt and I know your daughter is just over the moon about it!! I can only imagine how everyone that walks into her office will be drawn to it. And how clever of you to turn that one shirt into a star block! I love that!
Great job, I like the cotton spacers that you added. Makes for a wonderful office wallhanging. My neighbour has about eight t-shirt quilts made a year. He uses them as prizes for running races. They are all made using left over shirts from previous races. Everybody loves them.
Great job on the quilt!! It looks awesome!! You going for mom of the year???