Sunday, June 8, 2014

Graduation T-shirt Quilt--for daughter #1

This is the first t-shirt quilt of 5 (4 more over the next 11 years) that I will make for each of my children as they graduate from high school.

I'm so so happy that I got L.'s graduation quilt back in time from our quilter, Lynn.
It arrived on Monday.
I put the binding on it on Tuesday and graduation was Thursday night.


Although she knew which shirts I had used, I didn't really let her see it until it was completely put together. And once it showed up she didn't want to see it until actual graduation day.  The next 2 kids down were my picture helpers and they were quite envious.  Once again they wanted confirmation that they too would be getting a quilt when they graduate.

Here are some close-ups of the quilting and a couple of the t-shirt blocks.





Since there were a number of swimming related shirts Lynn did a meander that appears somewhat like water or waves.  She then did the borders in a different little motif.  I really love how it all turned out.





I just think this will be a fun quilt for her to have for college and beyond.



Details:
  • Finished dimensions:  74 1/2 inches wide by 81 inches long.
  • We used about 8 adult t-shirts including both the front and back.  Then added a couple solos here and there as needed. If you are using on the fronts of shirts you'd need about 16 for this size/style quilt.
  • Started with 16 inch squares on most shirts.
  • Apply lightweight interfacing to the wrong side of each shirt piece you are using to stabilize them.  I just went to Jo-Ann's and bought a bolt of their least expensive interfacing and used my coupon.  For sure I used at least 10 yds. of interfacing putting this together.
  • Kona charcoal sashing and borders.  Cut 2 1/2 strips for between the columns and 4 1/2 strips for the outer borders.
  • Orange and white chevron flannel from Jo-Ann's for backing.  $3.49/yd on sale.  Bought 6 yards to make sure I had enough room to match the print.
  • Found a fun navy polka-dot print for the binding.

Notes:
Preview post here.
For more ideas here is my friend Ann's posts on her kids' t-shirt quilts.
And Emily's favorite babysitter's graduation t-shirt quilt.
I found these layout ideas helpful in planning what I was going to do: herehere, and here.

6 comments:

  1. A treasure I'm sure she will appreciate for years to come!

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  2. Really nice - and I love the name of your blog!

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  3. Wonderful quilt and what a great way to capture memories!! Great job! I"m sure she's going to love it :-)

    ~ Jess ~
    Everything Is Coming Up Rosie

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  4. What a treasure! This came out great. I'm about ready to cut up some of my old shirts and cycling jerseys, and projects like this one are helping me bring my own project to life.

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  5. How fun!! I'm sure she'll treasure it forever.

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  6. Truly, the nicest T-shirt quilt I've ever seen..amazing.

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