my favorite block for this sort of thing is the bow tie block as it is appropriate for men's shirts and has a non-feminine look. i use the quick block method for the bow ties and so you need 5 squares the same size...3 for the tie and 2 for the background...this is made in the following video on youtube: the best thing is that there is no taking apart of the shirts, just lay them down and cut thru front and back to get the blocks... you will need blocks from each shirt for each of the recipients....then when you have the 4 or 5 blocks' worth of squares, toss the remainder into bags to go back home. the owner needs to choose other fabric to serve as a background so there is new fabric to strengthen the resulting quilt. so each block only needs 3 squares for each bowtie, the other 2 squares will all be from the new background fabric (and make them big...the video is just for construction information, not that really elaborate layout.... make all the ties face the same way and at least 3", if not 4"... 4.5" squares finish at an 8" block so this is not unworkable).... and try to get some numbers together soon...i guarantee she will back out as soon as she finds out what kind of money you're talking about... they always do... last ditch....ask her if she wants to pay you 10 dollars an hour for several hours so you can show her how to make the blocks and assemble them.... this is the quilt that i collect family members' shirts to make baby boy quilts... all men have blue shirts, (striped, plaid, plain) so that's what i ask for and this way every guy in the family has a block or two in the new baby boy's quilt...remember, new fabric for the background and borders.... this is not supposed to be torture ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh4cw...C0546D98A0C88D