Make a Quilt from Your Old T-Shirts

About ten years ago while preparing for a move, I discovered that I owned an alarming number of t-shirts that I was unlikely to ever wear again. However, I had a sentimental attachment to many of them, or they were otherwise souvenirs of some interesting times. I had a hard time just getting rid of them...how about making them into a quilt?

I preface this instructable by saying I know nothing whatsoever about quilting, and only the basics about sewing, so this was largely made up as I went along. The finished quilt is very big and heavy and warm and has borne up well under moderate use and gentle cleaning for about a decade now. I only have pictures of the finished quilt but will try to indicate in the photos the order of the steps as described.

What you'll need:

• A sewing machine
• A piece of cardboard with a cut 10"x10" window
• A Sharpie
• Fabric Scissors
• 70 t-shirt squares
• approx. 70 square feet of quilt batting (bought a couple rolls at JoAnn's fabrics)
• approx. 70 square feet of fleece (also bought at JoAnn's)
• A couple spools of thread, same color as fleece
• 54 large safety pins
• a box of large straight pins

Step 1 Cut up the Shirts

Take your cardboard frame and place it over the section of the t-shirt you want in your quilt. Trace the box with the sharpie. Once you have all your boxes traced, cut them out with your fabric scissors. I wanted my quilt to be big enough to cover a full sized bed, so I needed 70 squares for a 7x10 pattern.

I used mostly squares with printing on them, but it might also be nice to have some solid colors by cutting up blank squares from the opposite sides of the shirts. Obviously you can also have larger or smaller squares if you prefer.

Comments

[eryfoo]

70 square feet?

[GonzoandHappy]

I'll bet all of those T's with a small logo would be great for a border.

[leonardml]

Great job on your quilt and instructable!