I made my first t-shirt quilt in 1996. It was something of a collaborative effort, as a group of online friends donated t-shirts and the finished quilt was raffled off as a fund-raiser. This is the quilt top before quilting. I'm amused to see I used a multi-color, pieced inner border - a technique I'm still using today!
This quilt also traveled to Key West, Florida with our group and the lucky winner got to take it home. I don't remember what group received the money raised by the raffle. For a closer look at the t-shirts, click on the picture.
I so enjoyed the t-shirt quilt process - I made another one almost immediately! This one features an assortment of Caribbean Soul Jimmy Buffett t-shirts.
I pieced together some of the smaller designs to make a block that would fit in with the other, larger t-shirt designs.
One of my favorite Caribbean Soul designs - I don't have to worry about the t-shirt being worn to shreds, it will always be a part of my quilt! You can't see it real well, but the background fabric was an early batik featuring multi-colored fish.
I also used the pocket designs as border cornerstones.
Five years ago, I dug into the collectible t-shirt bin to make a quilt for our camp. Most of these shirts are from the mid-1990s and commemorate music and road trips between Florida, Louisiana and Texas.
Another favorite shirt, from Mi Tierra's Restaurant in San Antonio, Texas.
(Ha! I just looked at their website and they still have the same t-shirt!)
It seems using the pocket designs for cornerstones is one of my signature techniques!
I still have a LARGE basket full of already cut t-shirt fronts & backs, plus drawers full of my kids' t-shirts. I need to get busy and make more t-shirt quilts!!
