The T-Shirts in Our Lives

We all know that it’s hard to part with T-shirts that have a meaning for us. We collect them from sports-teams, from our clubs, from camps, from vacations. We have them for the schools we’ve attended, the causes we’ve supported, the reunions we lived through. We have our children’s, sometimes overflowing more than one drawer. We may have family members who purposely collect them… one for every national park, one for every rock concert, one for…. the list can go on and on.

We know, too, that when sons or daughters stop wearing those T-shirts that they just might like to continue enjoying them in quilt form. With their permission, we can cut the shirts and make them into colorful and warm quilts that will hold memories for years to come. T-shirt quilts are easy to make. There are many instructions online as well as in books and magazines.

Here are just a few that have recently been shared with us by our readers. We like them for the contrast in color. Layout and the choice of background fabric and/or sashing and borders is so important. We love the boldness of these and would like to thank Dee, Valerie and Laura for sharing them with us.

from: Dee Braxton-Pellegrino: “Kris’ Hard Rock Tee quilt I made for him with tees from all over the world he has collected.”

from: Valerie Pepicello: “Raised $3000.00 for a worthwhile organization raffling off this quilt at a Dwarf Athletic Assoc. National Convention in 2012 in Texas. I made this with T-shirts from past Nationals.”

from: Laura Kwiatkowski: “I saved all of my daughter’s All-Star t-shirts from her high school basketball career and added in some action shots I transferred onto t-shirts to make this keepsake quilt for her.”