"GO GREEN" TUESDAY

For years I’ve heard of people making quilts from t-shirts. That was before I was into quilting and I didn’t understand how that would work. I do think it’s a great way of recycling all those shirts that have been acquired along the way. I wish I had known how to do this back when I had several dresser drawers full of t-shirts. I used to buy one every place we went, every concert attended, every festival enjoyed. You know what I mean.

Making a t-shirt quilt requires a bit more work than a regular woven cloth quilt. The portion of the t-shirt that is to become part of the quilt must be fused to interfacing to keep it from stretching. After that, it’s up to you. Some of these quilts are made from equal sized squares; some have the size and shape of the squares unique to each shirt depending on the design. This is something that you can really personalize.

Now you have a better way to recycle those old t-shirts than to make dust rags from them. In fact, you can still use the back of the shirt for dusting and cleaning. But you will be able to preserve those memories of travel, athletic events, schools, concerts and other special occasions. If you need inspiration, check out the links below or get one of the books available on the subject. And, if you don’t want to or can’t make the quilt yourself, there are lots of quilters out there who will be glad to make it for you.

How-tos for making a t-shirt quilt:
http://www.straw.com/quilting/articles/teequilts.html,
http://www.ehow.com/how_18557_make-t-shirt.html
http://www.goosetracks.com/T-ShirtQuiltInstructions.html

Examples of t-shirt quilts:
http://tquilts.com/examples.htm
http://quilting.about.com/od/picturesofquilts/ig/T-Shirt-Quilts/