A recently widowed friend asked me if it was possible to make a quilt from her husbands ties and shirts. I told her yes, and it was quite common to do so. She wants the one from shirts for her grand daughter to have when she gets older. She is only three now. The one with ties can be a throw size.
I am on my second quilt ever and really want to do this right. I have only done quilt as you go, but I think the shirts need to be done as a top with a neat pattern and then professionally quilted as it will hopefully be heirloom quality. I have not seen all the shirts yet so I don't know about colors, but he was a school principal so I think they will be mostly pastels with some darker. I would like to get some ideas as to what kinds of patterns I should use, and then I will take her to a quilt shop and we will talk about the patterns for the LAQ and what they will need me to do to get it ready for quilting.
I am not sure about the ties, but I think I should have her take out all the seams and then have the batch dry cleaned and pressed. I will then sew them together like a string quilt. Should I cut that in squares and then put them back together with sashing? I probably will quilt in the ditch for this one.
Any suggestions or encouragement will be appreciated. I don't know if I am over thinking this or have left out any steps.
Phyllis