Am I Crazy? I'd like to make a Quilt.

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Ok, I have this crazy idea and I thought you craft-y experts could help me out.

Let me start out by saying that I have NEVER made a quilt and I am not a sewer (ok, I must have been once because I had a sewing patch/badge on my girl scout uniform, but you don't want to know how many years ago that was). But I had this wacky idea and need expert advice (that's where you all come in) and whether it is: A. Doable, B. Doable by someone who has never done anything like this before or C. Totally a bad idea.

I have quite a few t-shirts that I no longer wear (or never really even wore to begin with) but I cannot bear to part with them. Most of them are concert ts, but there are a few others (like from WDW). I thinking I could cut them up and use them to make a quilt (the squares would have to be pretty big in some cases). I know this wouldn't be the best looking thing, but would be a quilt of memories for me.

Does this sound like it is possible? Or just a bad idea? (Be brutally honest...I can take it...sort of! ).

And if I get one of those Quilting For Dummies books, would someone who has very little sewing talent be able to do this? I do not have a sewing machine and plan on doing this by hand. I see this as a long term project for me.

I'd really appreciate any thoughts you experts might have.

Thanks in advance! (and Happy Halloween!)

 

[Jen117]

You aren't crazy, but you will need to start slow. I suggest learning to sew a straight line first. Are there any places in your town/city that teach classes. We have several Quilt Stores that teach beginning quilting, but they will require that you are able to sew a straight line and know how to use your sewing machine. Also check out craft stores.

I am leaving for disney in a couple hours, but if you are still interested when I get back, I can search on-line for some helpful websites. I know I have some links stored somewhere!!

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Thanks Jen...I'll take you up on that!

And have a great time in WDW!

 

[babylisa4]

You aren't crazy. You should see the quilt my SIL made my son out of all of his old T-shirts. I had t-shirts of all sizes. Each square was 14" X 14". When she used little T-shirts from when he was small she would take either 2 of them or use 4 of them to make 4 little squares to make up the 14" square. It is so cool and he loves it. It has soccer shirts, school shirts, church shirts and some patches like cub scout patches added to several places. The back of his quilt is flannel and the front is dark denim. She said the hardest part of the T-shirts was that they were stretchy material and she had to put something on the back of them to keep them from stretching. Someone told her about it at a sewing store. It is the best though and a great memory especially for boys. She's getting ready to make my second son one. We were just waiting to see where he was going to college so it could be a complete quilt of all of his schools. One of the best things is you know how kids get t-shirts that has all of the names of the kids in their grades when they graduate from elementary, middle and high school? We have each one of those on the quilt. She had made many regular quilts before though and she had someone else do the machine quilting.

 

[SoonerKate]

There are some great instructions on making t-shirt quilts here and here.

I'm in the middle of making one of these for my sorority big sis. It's hard work, but it's coming together great and I know she'll love it.

 

[Twigs]

Check out this site http://tquilts.com/, I saw this quilt demonstrated on HGTV and this is the site to buy the pattern to make quilts from T-Shirts. I ordered the pattern but I haven't used it yet, so I can't say how easy it was, but it seems like a good one.

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Twigs, thank you for that listing. T-Quilts seems to think that even a beginner like me could do this! I am going to email them for more info. Thank you !

 

[JetMom]

I have also been toying with this idea for about a year. I printed out the directions from both links. I think I am getting closer to trying this.