Tuesday, August 16, 2011

The t-shirt quilt chronicle Part II

This past weekend I started cutting into the t-shirts that were sent to me by my cousin Liz to make her oldest son a t-shirt quilt.  On Saturday I cut the backs and fronts apart, cut off the sleeves and neckline and felt no pang of nervousness while doing so but the next step was another matter.  Thanks to the positive feedback via Facebook and the comments from my Saturday post, I began cutting out the logos on the backs and the fronts but I was sweating the whole time.  The recurring thought running through my head was: What if I cut them too small or crooked?

I persevered and ended up with 33 logos that are 13"x13" and a few random larger and smaller sizes which I may incorporate into the back.   It seems like a lot of blocks but I am making a twin size quilt.
logos cut out...33 in all with a few random sizes

So now readers I need your help...do you see all that purple?  Sally from Fibercrafter's Musings suggested that I use Kona fabric for the sashing in between the blocks which I will be doing to lend a cleaner look to the quilt but I need to chose a color. What color should I use for the sashing/border? (FYI: The purple in the shirts is exactly 1301 Kona Purple.)  Whites/Greys or blacks?  Or something else?  

Today's step will be to stop in at Joann's to purchase fusible interfacing so I can begin ironing.  

I'm linking up with Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory today and before I wrote this I went on over there to see what had been posted already today (it's 7am here in CA and there are already 21 submissions!) and guess what...there is already a t-shirt quilt listed in progress.  What are the odds?  :)  
Enjoy your Tuesday,
Susan

8 comments:

  1. Here is some more t-shirt inspiration for you. I didn't use sashing and had some small odd shaped logos to work with. I only had 12 shirts so it's not twin size but with 22 shirts yours would easily end up a twin. Good luck!!! It will be awesome when it's done!

    http://creativechicksatplay.blogspot.com/2011/07/quilt-i-didnt-have-to-make.html

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  2. I would go with the white. Looking forward to Part III

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  3. Hello! That looks exiting work! I would use white for sashing but purple for the white 'blocks'. And purple also for the border.
    This is going to be great quilt!

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  4. I think Teje's idea is an interesting one. See City House Studios's Summer Sampler on flickr for an example of this. Otherwise I was going to say a gray - it's for a guy, right? White obviously would tie things together too. Black seems a little dark IMHO. Anxious to see what you decide - good luck!

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  5. I say grey all the way! I think using purple might be a bit too...purple. White would look good, but I think grey is a nice contrast and will look more masculine. I do like the idea of using different sashing for certain blocks. Maybe white and light/dk grey? Who knows. I'm sure it will look great whatever you do!

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  6. Now, if this was for a girl I'd really like a yellow that would go with the yellow shirts and bright brightness through the quilt. That's not what a guy would like. Is there a blue that would work with the purple, yellow, gray and red? It's a difficult grouping to work with.

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  7. I have made several t-shirt quilts of various sizes (wall hangings up to queen size). On my last t-shirt quilt, I did NOT iron interfacing to the back of the t-shirts. Each t-shirt block is stabilized by cotton sashing sewn on all four sides. The sashing eliminates all stretching! There are so many advantages to skipping the interfacing step. Your t-shirts stay soft and cuddly, the quilt is not heavy and bulky, and you invest less time and money.

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  8. What an amazing quilt it will be. I would say grey too. But then, I love grey!!

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