The idea for this quilt came to me when my husband decided to get rid of a bag of his old college shirts. Although he wouldn’t wear them all, each shirt held special memories, and I wanted to preserve them for him.
Initially, I considered sending the shirts out to be quilted by a professional, but the process was complex and costly, running several hundred dollars. Plus, it wouldn’t be finished in time for Christmas.
So, I decided to make the quilt myself. I thought about using fleece as a backing and skipping the batting altogether. However, everything I read online and advice from the fabric store said it wasn’t a feasible option.
But who doesn’t like a challenge? I found fleece on sale for $3 a yard and bought three yards. Looking back, a bit more fleece would have made things easier, but three yards worked for a quilt measuring five shirts by four shirts, using 16-inch blocks.
With some trial and error, I came up with a pattern that I hoped would work. The tricky part was my two-week timeline before Christmas, coupled with the need to keep everything secret from my husband. I could only work on it when he wasn’t home and had to clear every trace before he returned.
With four kids in the house, finishing by Christmas seemed unlikely. But, fortunately, the pattern was simple, and I managed to finish in about eight hours, spread over five days. The final quilt turned out to be soft, warm, and machine washable!
My next plan is to create smaller quilts for the kids using their baby clothes that have sentimental value.
If you have old t-shirts filled with memories, this is a great way to repurpose them and keep those memories alive.
I should admit, I’m not a professional seamstress and my terminology might not be precise. Although I measured each square to be 16×16 inches, I didn’t measure each diagonal seam meticulously—I just eyeballed it, and it worked out fine.
Got any old t-shirts too worn out to wear? Making a quilt out of them is a fantastic way to give them new life. If you have any questions or want to share your experiences, feel free to reach out!
