As we get older, we get rid of things that may have a lot of meaning to us. Maybe it’s an old tee shirt from a charity event that you helped with and it doesn’t fit anymore. Or maybe it’s a baseball that you received from a foul ball at a baseball game. Or maybe it’s a toy that you had a child that you don’t have room for anymore.
This was something Haley did. While cleaning her room, she decided that she wanted to get rid of old tee shirts. But, these tee shirts had memories and things that she had enjoyed when she was in high school. There were old track shirts, 4-H shirts, and other shirts from her favorite things like tech crew and volunteering.
So, creativity ensued, taking these memories to turn them into something beautiful.
I took all the shirts and cut them so that I could get the design that I wanted off of the shirt. I wanted them in squares so it was easier to make a blanket. But, there was one shirt that was a little bit more difficult because the picture was bigger the rest. Urgh…
Once I had all the pieces from the shirts, I bought thin interfacing and a mature black and white fleece for the back. I didn’t pick something really thick because Haley gets hot really quickly.
I then ironed all the tee shirts to the interfacing and started to lay out the tee shirts into the design that I wanted. I wanted a slight pattern to make sure that all of black shirts weren’t on the same side. Also, I tried to have a shirt from high school, a shirt from track, a shirt from 4-H, and a random shirt on every row.
Then the sewing began!
I sewed the pieces together to get the finished product. I first sewed the panels together in the rows, making four individual rows. I then sewed the four rows together to make the entire front of the quilt. I then sewed the front of the quilt to the fleece for the back. As a final step, I sewed the corners of where the panels met to the fleece. I did that as a small security so that the front and back didn’t separate all the time.
And here is the final product!
It looks so good! As you can see, I changed the layout yet again. I felt like this was the most conducive look and it turned out really good. I love how there are no colors that line up and there is a different shirt in each row. I also had to make one of the shirts in the row with the Pirates of the Caribbean shirt skinnier so they would fit.
This was an easy project that I thoroughly enjoyed working on. And the best part is that Haley absolutely loves it and uses it all the time…when she is actually cold.
T-shirts certainly do hold memories. I can totally see how a teen ager would love this! Heck, I think my husband would love it! So glad you shared with us at the Merry Monday party!
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Thank you!
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This is so great and so personal!!
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Thank you!
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I’m in the middle of a similar project, but my daughter is in to live theatre, so we have t-shirts from the shows she’s been in. I love the idea of the interfacing. I hadn’t thought of that! Nice work. Mimi xxx
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I’m sure your daughter will love it! Thanks for coming by!
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Aha! Yes! My youngest daughter ordered a quilt from her T-shirts- to be ready in May when she grads med school. Thanks!! I was starting to get worried!!
Here from HomeMatters.
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I’ve done 20 half marathons and 4 full marathons and I have a stack of T-shirts to show for it. THIS is what I plan to do with the logos on them so I can ditch the stacks and make something memorable and useful! Thanks for sharing at My Flagstaff Home!
Jennifer
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This would be great to use all those t-shirts for! My daughter loved it and it was a great way to preserve those memories!
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