T-Shirt Quilt #3

The layout of this quilt was guided by colour, rather than the content of each quilt square. Starting with white and transitioning to an ROYGBIV stripe in the middle.

This t-shirt quilt is for my brother. It is the fourth quilt I ever completed but the third quilt made from old t-shirts. I started this t-shirt quilt shortly after finishing my second t-shirt quilt. Applying lessons I had learned to both t-shirt quilt #1 and #3, I didn’t approach this step in an overly mathematical way. I instead cut out the logos of the t-shirts with ample space on all sides. Instead of designing the quilt top to be a rigid grid, I would stagger the quilt squares together like a puzzle, Approaching the design like a puzzle was a creative challenge. 

I put T-Shirt Quilt #3 on hold in the Spring of 2017 to make a quilt for my best friend’s first baby. By June 2017, I made three quilts in 8 months and I was a bit burnt out. Combined with the creative challenge I was facing with the layout of this quilt face, I ended up putting the project away for over three years, finishing this quilt in September 2020.

In 2020, I found myself with a burst of sewing motivation I hadn’t experienced in a while. I knew that the first and only project I could pursue was this quilt. I looked at the t-shirt squares with new eyes. I saw no real chronology to the logos. There weren’t a lot of corresponding front and back squares so it was challenging to create a pattern. There were however vibrant colours across the spectrum and once I realized this, it was a matter of figuring out how to lay out the ROYGBIV colours among the majority of grey, black, and white squares. 

I was pleased with the spacing of each square on the final product; plenty of negative space without any squished logos made possible with an easy going approach to cutting out the t-shirts. I used every last centimetre of flannel plaid fabric I had. An important lesson I learned from this quilt is that purchasing additional yardage of a pattern will allow you to match the patterns. Not wanting to introduce another fabric on the back, I had no choice but to line up two rows of grey and black checks, making a very obvious looking seam. It’s bound in a satin finish, which is a nice alternative to quilting cotton, adding another texture to the quilt. This is easily the biggest quilt and sewing project I’ve completed to date.