Help! I want to donate my time and fabric to make a T Shirt quilt.
 

Well, my Daughter-in-law has talked me into donating a T shirt quilt for our annual high school Booster raffle. I'm OK with the expense and the time. I just do not know how to state it for the auction. I will ask for a minimum of 16 T shirts. Do I state a maximum? I want to say I will "frame" it in colors to match, would they understand sash? Doing a search I see people here charge $25 to $50 per block, I'll use that to gauge on how to say what the finished quilt is worth. I need ideas and statements on how to have the auctioneer sell this without a quilt in hand. DIL says to have pictures. I could bring samples of fabric. Any help is appreciated. I do not have a T-shirt quilt to show them. 3 I have made are 1000 miles away and the 4th was made 15 years ago! Thank you!

I know several of these parents have been saving T-shirts and this is a group that spends their money. My DIL is sure it will bring in big bucks.

Definitely state a maximum number of tshirts. If your 15 year old tshirt quilt is local, take a photo of it. They're pretty timeless. I'm sure it'll be a great fund raiser-good luck!

You might print out/makes "slides" of photos of Tshirt quilts (made by others) that are similar to what you intend to make. The auctioneer can project those on a screen. Say that you'll need at least 16 shirts but no more than )fill in the blank based on how large you're willing to go).

If you're able to do a table display, I recommend spreading 1-5 T-shirts from your high school on the table. Then place some photos of similar quilts in very cheap stand-up plastic frames. If there won't be a table display, look into doing something similar with a video "slide."

Almost all people are visual. If you give them enough visual information, well-presented, you'll get more bids.

Good luck!

I would state the finished size. There could be problems if you are intending to make a lap size and they are expecting a king size.

I would ask for more shirts than what I would need to use. Why? You don't know how large the logo is on the shirt that they are donating. I have shirts where the logo is small and not the whole front of a shirt.

OH, and if I ended up with too many...those I would use for the back of the quilt.

"You are biding on a one of a kind, handmade quilt full of your child's high school memories. Each t-shirt will be bordered in a coordinating color, sewn together and backed with a soft matching fleece (or whatever). All the designer needs is 16-20 of your favorite t-shirt and you will get to wrap yourself up in memories. Size will be between ... depending on the # of shirts. The value of this item is priceless (you can't put a price on memories)"

I made a sample using 12 shirts my son didn't care about.

For what its worth... I made a tshirt quilt for a friend of my daughter. There were about 24 tshirts and my bill for the added fabrics, batting and backing (flannel) was almost $400. A Tshirt quilt would be worth about $800.

This sounds about right. I also find they are hard on your cutters etc. So you have extra wear and tear on your stuff too.

Yes, this definitely!

Along with slides, you might make a mini quilt (24"x 24"?) for display using the same layout.