What do you do with things that won’t fit into your scrapbook?
You give them to your mom.
Behold, my newest t-shirt quilt courtesy of my mom. I talked about my mom and her DIY prowess last week. On Christmas day she surprised me with a quilt of some of my college t-shirts.
I have a lot of Cal shirts in my closet. This is my collection AFTER I gave her the ones for the quilt.
I own a lot of Cal shirts. I mean A LOT. I took a Cal shirt census last year and I had 33 navy blue shirts in addition to a smattering of yellow, white and grey. The collection grows by 1 or 2 a year.
After counting the shirts, I decided to “thin the herd” and took 14 of my less-frequently-worn models out of the closet. Don’t think even for a second that I was going to throw them out. I live to save things.
I took the shirts to my mom. Years ago she made a t-shirt quilt out of all my high school shirts. I gained back a lot more closet space and a new quilt.
Fourteen shirts cleaned out of the closet and turned into something awesome.
My mom says that t-shirt quilts have gotten even more popular since Bella has one in the newest Twilight movie. There are lots of different patterns and instructions out there, but my mom doesn’t stick to one method.
The design on each of the shirts is cut out. Then she puts iron-on interfacing on each piece to keep it from stretching. She then lays out all the pieces and stares at them for a while, moving them until she likes the finished product. Sounds a lot like doing a scrapbook layout, doesn’t it?
The best part.
Here’s the best part: I get space in my closet, some old shirts that never saw the light of day get used, and the husband has something new to use when he’s relaxing on the couch.
Almost Never Clever 
That’s awesome. I’ve always wanted to do that with my stack of Cal shirts.
It can be pretty simple if you know someone who can sew a little. Bill’s stepmom is a novice but she was able to put together a quilt of all of his water polo shirts.
What a great present! Your mom totally rocks!
Thanks!
how fun! I have started saving my girls soccer t-shirts I hope to have a quilt like this for them when they are finished playing. What a great mom you have.
I’m sure they will be happy to have it! It’s such a practical but sentimental thing. Plus, if there are any you have now that they don’t wear anymore, try “rough cutting” the design out and tossing the rest of the shirt. Leave yourself enough space around the design to trim later but the rough cut pieces will store more easily and compactly than the whole shirts.
I love your mom! Awesome quilt!
I am featuring you today over at http://www.itssoverycheri.com
Cheri
Thank you for the feature!!
I started making a T-shirt quilt in high school with all of my collected t-shirts but had no idea what I was doing and got so sick of the pile of cut up t-shirts that I threw them all away :/. Now that I’ve had a bit more experience sewing, I’m so bummed I didn’t hold onto them for a few more years. Yours looks so warm and must be so fun to look at while you’re snuggled up inside.
Awwww, that’s too bad you threw them away. But think of it this way, you can save things from your kids and try it again! I don’t think I would have held onto my high school shirts if my mom wasn’t a quilter.
Looks great! I want to do this, but I want a sewing machine first.
At the very least, you can cut out the t-shirts so they store flatter and more compactly. That way you can dispose of the larger parts of the shirts while you keep the designs to use for a later quilt.