99-Quilters

Hi,

I need to find instructions and/or advice on how to make a Flannel Lap size quilt from men's shirts.
I am wondering how many shirts (Size 30-44) would it take to make a Lap Size Quilt.??
as well as a sample or patterns.??

Where can I find preparing the (shirt) instructions as well and now many squares
and some sort of pattern ideas, etc.

My friends husband passed away & she does not quilt & she has asked me if I would
make a memory from his flannel shirts.

I would love to do this quilt in his memory for her. But need advice and directions
on "How TO" .

Any advice or instructions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You - 99-Quilters

bearisgray

From an extra-large long-sleeved flannel shirt, I was able to cut approximately 40 5x5 squares and and 18 to 20 3x5 rectangles.

It took two shirts to make a rag quilt 36x44 inches (5 inch squares sewn with 1/2 inch seams)

Prism99

Found this on QB: http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...s-t153884.html

This shows how to cut up shirts, plus provides asnowball pattern for a 7-shirt quilt:
http://thethriftyquilter.blogspot.co...e-thrifty.html

For flannel I would first cut the shirts apart, then starch heavily to make the flannel stable to work with. My method is to mix a 1:1 solution of Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch and water, "paint" this solution onto flannel fabric using a large wall painting brush, wait a couple of minutes to make sure fibers have absorbed starch, toss in dryer, then iron with steam. My kitchen island is a good place to do this. After ironing the flannel is quite stiff, which makes it *much* easier to cut and piece accurately.

bearisgray

I cut up older Eddie Bauer chamois shirts - they did not need to be starched.

Prism99

I found this rather interesting discussion of chamois and flannel shirts:
http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/f...ois-vs-Flannel

bearisgray

They were the extra-heavy weight cotton flannel ones. worked up beautifully. And are they ever scarce at garage sales!

AlienQuilter

So sorry for your friends loss.

I vote for using 5" squares for a disappearing nine patch. Maybe use 1 1/2" strips to window pane it. Missouri Star Quilt Company has a nice tutorial on the Window Pane D9P. When I was a kid we always used the good pieces of worn clothing to make quilts. It wasn't until after I retired and started taking quilt classes that I bought new fabric. We took old sheets and cut up into squares to use for the foundation than took bits and pieces of clothing fabric. Made several really scrappy quilts.

How about just framed nine patches? That way the pieces would be big enough to recognize?

A nice touch would be an embroidered label. Do you have an embroidery machine? If not, maybe someone you know or maybe ask at your local quilt store.

AlienQuilter

Neat pattern on that link above!

One piece of advice. If it's going to be a lap quilt and used a lot - don't use the shirts for the back. Use something more sturdy to take the abuse that a lap quilt gets. The lap quilts that I have made that have fleece or minkee on the back do not have any holes or fraying. The ones where there is cotton fabric for the backing are frayed and with holes after a few years. I vote for brown or blue minkee for the back so she can cuddle up with it.

99-Quilters

Thank You for responding...this is helpful

99-Quilters

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.