T-Shirt Quilt

My Sewing Room is a MESS.  Really.  So I decided to complete some unfinished projects in hope to clear some items out. I found that my husbands 40 t-shirts were taking up quite a bit of space.  I wanted a down and dirty and comfortable quilt that he would use.  I have made t-shirt quilts before with interfacing on every t-shirt, but that takes time and stiffens up the quilt a bit.  So I decided to wing it and make up the quilt pattern as I went.  First of all I took all 40 t-shirts and cut out the most important graphics, front and back.  Don't worry, I did not toss all the remaining pieces!  There are plenty left to make lots of pajama pants for the kiddos.  

For the backing I used 2 yards of fleece.  The tiki pattern is perfect for two reasons.  First, I knew he would like it.  Second, it does not have a lot of colors which means I could use a basic brown thread in my bobbin and it would blend nicely.  


Next comes arranging.  I laid out the t-shirts onto the wrong side of the fleece, overlapping the edges by about 3/8 inch.  Then comes pinning.  And boy did I pin.  Over 200 of them.

---

And finally came sewing.   To do this, I sewed all the horizontal seams with a 1/4" allowance first.  Then I turned the blanket and sewed all the vertical seams.  When sewing the vertical seams it was important to tug on the fleece a bit to make sure the fabrics were taught together and no gapping happened.  I would be lying if I said there are not any gaps or puckers in my quilt.  BUT again, this is a down and dirty quilt, not up of for an award at the state fair! 

Finished the quilt off with a traditional binding in quilters cotton. The best part, Hubby loves the quilt.  It is the perfect warmth, weight and softness for him.