MTB T-shirt Quilt - So good it's hanging in bike heaven

When my husband saw the first one I did, he said "I want one of those".  When he saw the one I made for my son, he started making a pile of shirts and said "the only thing I want for Christmas from you is a mountain bike shirt quilt".  Of course, with that kind of a request, I had to make it.

Hanging in bike heaven

He originally wanted it to actually use, but when he saw it all finished, he was afraid it would end up with dog hair on it, and it wouldn't get the respect it deserved, so he changed his mind and hung it in his bike workshop.

 He chose the most spectacular flannel for the back (when he thought that's what would be touching him).  It's Northcott Man About Town flannel, and it is gorgeous.  Soft, thick, but so easy to work with.  The binding almost seemed to attach itself.

The most AMAZING flannel on the back. It's to die for.

I used a thicker interfacing with his because the t-shirts were all over the place in terms of age and use.  Some had been washed a ton of times and some he bought (yes, he did) just for this quilt.  So the thickness and texture was really inconsistent.  But with the interfacing, they became much more similar and easier to get to line up.  It also made the finished product look much more substantial to me.

The full frontal view

As much as I love giving these as gifts, and I know how much they mean to people, t-shirt quilts are pretty boring to make.  Not that I've got my techniques down, they do come together quickly.

T-Shirt Quilt number 2, back from the dead

Wow is that scary.  Months and months go by and I barely pick my head up to look around and see what I’m missing.  But we had an awesome summer, with some really fun vacations, and I have been sewing, just not taking pictures of my work or taking any time to reflect on it.

This t-shirt quilt that I made for my son was the second one I made.  I made one for a customer earlier this year, and my son loved it so much he immediately made a pile of his old shirts for me to make him one.  Like with SO many other projects, I had it all cut out and the top sewn in less than a week.  I did it all while we were at the Cape in June.  

20 of his old favorites

Flash forward to last week and I was just putting the binding on.  But look, he loves it, and I’m already working on one for my husband.

(photo approved by new quilt owner)

I use Pellon 101 woven fusible interfacing to firm up the t-shirts.  It’s time consuming, but the body of the quilt is nicer, and it’s thin enough that it doesn’t take away from the awesomely soft t-shirt feel of the finished product.

This shows the back - one of the first fabrics I ever bought

I’ll probably make one for myself out of my race t-shirts.  I never wear them, and I won’t feel so lazy resting under a quilt made of shirts I had to RUN to earn!

Custom T-Shirt Memory Quilt

It's been a long time...I have all kinds of pictures of the projects I've been working on, but this is the best, and most fun.

Through the magic of Facebook and a grad school friend (huge thanks to Stacie S.) I was connected with a woman who wanted to make a memory quilt for her son.  He's an adult now, but she had saved a ton of his t-shirts, from camps, places, events, you name it.  He's also moved away from CT, so she included shirts from all the Boston teams (thank GOD I didn't have to sew NY themed stuff, it would have hurt my Massachusetts soul).

It ended up being a little more than a twin sized quilt.  It's on a queen sized bed below, so you could see the sides and the full length.  

I loved making this quilt.  I was so happy with the result, and I think my customer was too.  Of course, Ben has already set aside shirts so I can make him one.  But I told him, he has to get in line.

Finished size 60" x 90"