opinions needed

i'm working on a new quilt and i want some opinions.

i've been collecting lucky shirts for years now, and now that i have 12 i wanted to work on the quilt. my goal is to get it done *fingers crossed* so i can hang it at the top of the steps for march.

my favorite is the dog and crossed bones (middle shirt, second row) i was really pleased to find the 'happy go lucky' shirt (last shirt, second row) because i always said if lucky had been a purebred, that would of been his 'registered' name....

i'm keeping the color scheme green- i have green dog themed fabrics, green fabrics, and shamrock fabrics. i also have the backs of the shirts, which i have if i want to incorporate.

but here's my conundrum:
the logos and shirts are all different sizes. the biggest is 15inches square and the smallest is barely 6inches. i won't be able to cut them out all the same size at all.

so here's what i was thinking- what if i just cut the shirts out in even sizes (6", 8", 12", etc) and then use my green fabrics to build the blocks out to 18 inches. then i could sash the blocks....

do you think it would work and look okay?

someone's already making use of the scrap pile :)

13 comments:

  1. I've just finished two tshirt quilts -- one with 12 inch blocks and sashing, the other with random sizes. the difficulty in sewing the stretchy knit to the wovens. I cut up the sides of the front, interfaced with fusible interfacing a larger square than I needed, and then cut from the front. It's next to impossible to interface the cut to size logo.
    there's lots of good links out there on tshirt quilts. good luck!

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  2. I understand what you're saying about what you want to do. It's nice if what you're looking for is a plain quilt with uniform blocks. But if you want something with more interest, I'd go for cutting the Ts into whatever size they need to be. Then, puzzle them together. It's way more fun and will make the quilt interesting because you can sew a shamrock block, or a couple pinwheel blocks, or some nine-patches to fill in all the spaces. You're the gal who made the Kitchen Sink quilt, so do it like that. You go girl!

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  3. Check out some of the Tquilts I have made. . on my blog. . . I do this for "a living." LOL. . My quilts are assembled "tetris" style. . meaning they'rea ll different shapes and sizes. If you need any help I'd be happy to assist.
    Just email me or something.

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  4. I agree with Linda. Make it fun!

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  5. I don't know if this will help you but it's pretty much want I did for the Keepsakes Quilt
    http://vickiwelsh.typepad.com/field_trips_in_fiber/the-keepsakes-quilt.html

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  6. Will email you a couple of pdfs that were sent to me about how to set mixed sizes for t shirt quilts.

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  7. I agree with everyone else - mixed sizes are more interesting. Interface them, cut each shirt to whatever size looks best then pin them all up on a design wall and start filling in the blanks with blocks and strips made from your green fabrics.

    Michele

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  8. There is a great book called: You Did What?? With My T Shirt! by Judy Bobbit & Katie Reed. It is available on Amazon. There are some really good options for unique t-shirt quilts. I have also found that SF101 fusible interfacing works great and is very easy to sew with.

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  9. Check out this site (not affiliated with them in any way, except I bought their book and plan to make a quilt by their directions) http://www.toocooltshirtquilts.com/ It is not your typical t shirt quilt. Sara In AL

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  10. Lauren Kingsland has a great book about t-shirt quilts and using 'different' sizes. It's called The Extraordinary T-shirt Quilt: A Scrapbook You Can Sleep Under.

    She says to interface BEFORE you cut, you even SEW SASHING before you cut -- then you don't have to deal w/ those edges rolling up.

    I highly recommend the book. It makes life easy! I attended a workshop with Lauren, and followed her instructions to make a t-shirt quilt for my son.
    See it here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilively/4040540631/

    One t-shirt has part of a collar included (row 1, block 1), one of the shirts is a polo-style and not 'traditional' t-shirt (center 6 logos -- top right). I even included a t-shirt pocket! (next to last row, white surrounded by much green -- under horizontal red shirt, beside horizontal grey Late Night shirt).

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  11. You know what you're going to do. It's always different and well, just you. You are not a uniform sort of gal......

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  12. You're idea is similar to what I did with my husband's t-shirt quilt: http://www.ormondbeachquilts.com/p/personal-quilts.html

    I love how it came out! Can't wait to see yours!

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  13. Make it a puzzle...all kinds of different sizes. That's what I did and it turned out great. I even had some weird t-shirt tags that I sewed into the seams..let them flap like a tag always does.

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