I am in the middle of planning a memory quilt for a young woman who works at Joann. It will be made from her Nana's old house dresses. One of my first quilts was made from snippets of old clothing from my mother, father and their four daughters. It was beautiful. Way back then we didn't purchase fabric for quilts, we purchased it to make clothing. When the clothing was outgrown, it went into quilts. As for minding whether or not it is cotton, don't worry about that. Just be sure that the fabric is a similar weight. You will be carrying on a beautiful tradition in quilting and your children will have food on the table and beautiful quilts to warm their hearts.

I've used some shirts before, and I agree with a previous post, if you shop around, you can get some nice fabrics off of the clearance tables. I find really good ones at Hancocks, then on wednesdays, if you're 60 or older, you get another 20% I think. I'm 50, but I bring my mama or my brother with me to check out! Hate to wish my life away, but I'll be glad when I'm 60! LOL!

I too have used clothes for quilting fabric-especially the flannels.

Check out Bonnie Hunter's site (quiltville.com). She uses lots of clothing items for her quilts.

awww...........

that is what my first quilt was. It took a long time to get all of it cut out to work with . Then you have all the little one and color lol .But it work out ok :thumbup:

3 shirts = quilt throw
 

A dear friend passed 4+ years ago, I used his shirts & a pair of work pants to make his wife Katie, what I call.."Hugs from Heaven".. I made my 3 stepdaughters small quilts from their mothers blouses also.. I've used old curtain panels on a quilt..Fabric is fabric, 'til you cut & sew, then it may become a quilt!!

I never have but my grandmother did. These kind of quilts are memory quilts because you see little pieces of relatives and family, with the memories of them when you see a piece of blouse or shirt in one. It is like the essence of them is still there within the quilt.

I say go for it .......I made a cathedral window quilt from my daughters dresses and shirts from my boys...that's how our sisters before us made their quilts....and using feed sacks etc.......

Our guild had a speaker who used clothing for her quilts and presentation. I was very impressed, and you couldn't tell the fabric from new.
In her presentation, she stressed to cut around the worn spots--elbows on shirts, ect. She suggested, as someone has already said, to use the big skirts that maybe have been worn one time.
I see lots of women buying clothing at Salvation Army in our town and making quilts from them.
I haven't made anything yet with old clothing, but I know that you are on the right track. My Mom made a lot of quilts from old clothing. In the Depression and long after, that was all they had for quilting. I have a quilt she made in Pinwheels she told me was from dresses she didn't wear any more, my oldest sister's dresses. That quilt means a lot to me.
Good luck!
Mariah.

Hi. Our group does charity quilting. Often times we are donated good clothing to use. Its washed ,then cut out all seams,zippers and such. We do not use any worn spots like hem edges. Mens shirts work well. Yard sales here in Ok towards the end will often sell a whole bag of cotton cloths for $1.00 You can use any pattern. Scrap quilts have a charm all their own. Does not take long to build a stash if you ask your friends and family for any scraps left over from sewing. Hope this helps some. Okie quilter

Hi,
I do a lot of quilts from used clothing. It started long ago when my girlfriend lost her Daughter in an accident. I helped her husband clear out the baby cloths which he said to throw away. I used them to make a quilt for my girlfriend. It was about 3 years before I gave it to her. She sat down and cried. It hangs on the wall in the den with a picture of Linda. She to this day says thank you for the memory quilt.
I have at this time done about 80 of the memory quilts for loved one both young and old.
The back of shirts are great for quilts as they get very little use.
I have made a memory quilt out of their clothing for each of my children that was presented to them at the birth of their first child.
I have one that is on my bed that is made from my fathers shirts. I am always happy under that quilt because it feels save and wram in my fathers arms.
I could go on.
Yes clothing makes great fabric for quilts.

I love making memory quilts out of clothing. I have made several & am working on two now. I use anything the people give me. The lighter fabrics I put a fuze able webbing on the backs to make them heavier. I also use old blankets & mattress liners for batting & sheets for backing. I get all these at yard sales & the good will. I cut costs where ever I can. Everyone I know saves all their denim for me & I have made & sold many denim quilts. I have even used bed spreads for batting & if they are like new, have used them for backing on the denim quilts. So, just about anything is do able.

You must be awfully young to ask this question! My grandmother made quilts out of the parts of my grandfather's shirts that weren't worn out and out of her sons' and daughter's outgrown clothing. People on this board are forever showing off their garage and estate sale fabric finds--they have no idea about the background of lots of that fabric. At our last quilt guild meeting, the presenter--who has Ph.D. in textiles--showed several dozen quilts that she had made of such a great variety of fabrics that my little fabric democratic heart was pittypatting every minute. Many, if not most of her quilts were cotton/polyester blends. The binding had worn out on some, but the colors were as bright as the day the quilt was made. One was made of red corduroy. Several were made of some interesting fabric mixes.

Use what you've got and what will give you pleasure. If you are making quilts to be loved and used, they are going to wear out anyway. If you are making heirlooms that's another story, but not one I don't know anything about. froggyintexas

Has anyone made a quilt out of Baby Bibs? My DIL gave me a box full from her babies and some are gorgeous. I am thinking of making a quilt using baby bibs. My dilema is, do I just fold over the neck part or cut them off and stitch in place.
Valleyquilter

If you were going to make a wall hanging with the bibs - and they had ties - stitch the bibs on to a background, and then tie the ties for a three-dimensional look.

My suggestion would be to tell friends and family you're looking for free clothing, sheets, etc to quilt with. Be specific for what you would like. You could end up with a ton of stuff, good luck!

yes why not my grandmother and all those before her used what they had. Why can't we?

That's what I was going to say. :)

That turned out sooo nice! I love the lay out/pattern you used.

Love this quilt!!!

I can tell somebody loves that quilt for sure! He is so cute!

My husband just today offered me a stack of his wrinkle free Oxford shirts that have gotten scruffy or stained one way or another. I was a bit skeptical. It seems like those might be better used in different projects than quilts.

Who'd have guessed you could get that much fabric from three shirts. Love the quilt and I'll bet Katie does too.

A lot of people use clothing to make quilts. Many go to Goodwill and such. Like was noted above Bonnie Hunter was at our guild meeting and she shows you how to debone shirts on her website. It's what you like and can afford. Stuff the quilt police it's your quilt.

I try to stick to 100% cotton fabric. Women's and men's shirts are a good source but skirts are usually a bounty of fabric if you search through the sizes. The most important thing to consider is the fabric content throughout the quilt. My grandmother's quilts were made of old workshirts and scraps. They have withstood the test of time!

Bottom line, quilts that are well constructed and use quality fabric (used or not) will wear well. One does not require a stash of fabric to create a quilt that is creatively beautiful and functional. Old blankets are my batting of choice for winter weight quilts.

:thumbup: Recycle what you can, this tutorial might help. I started this and didn't finish yet (got side-tracked on another project)
http://thethriftyquilter.blogspot.co...e-thrifty.html

Bonnie Hunter has turned this idea into a science. I happen to have her book "Scraps & Shirttails: Reuse, Re-purpose, Recycle! The art of Quilting Green" out of our guild library at the moment, and it inspired me to go out and buy a pile of the biggest men's all cotton shirts I could find. I have just started cutting them apart, and have been impressed with the amount of fabric that came out of them. Two were size XXL, and they were 28 inches across the back. I would suggest having a look at this book if possible because it is full of useful suggestions and some very attractive patterns.

A few years ago I made a rag quilt out of recycled flannel shirts and denim jeans. My daughter was thrilled with it because it's very heavy and warm as well as being an earth-friendly alternative to buying all new material.

[h=2]3 shirts = quilt throw[/h]

Crazy quilts are great in using clothing. I have made several but sorry I don't have pictures. My motto for crazy quilts is anything that can be ironed can be made into the quilt. I like the different textures. The key to a successful crazy quilt is to sew the pieces on a foundation such as an old sheet, or thin fabric. I found a thin worn out sheet works great! It's your project use what you can afford and like.

Not only must you be able to iron the fabric it must be machine washable as well. Forgot to mention that!

I have found several bed skirts and valances at thrift stores that work well in quilts. Sometimes it is hard to find those in all cotton, but they seldom have any wear, just a little dirt.

I have used bed skirts as well. Needed a teal color and found bedskirt at goodwill for $3.99. Worked great. A plus was I could use the part that goes between the mattress and boxsprings for embroidery squares, so no waste. I use what is available I can afford.

There is no right or wrong way to quilts. You can use anything you want in them. I made t-shirt quilts before and put fleece on the back.

I like this to make these types of Quilt using old clothes. I have seen your Quilt and I also try to make this quilt like your quilt. Thanks for given awesome idea to make beautiful quilt.

If you go far back you will find that original quilt were all made from clothing that cannot be used any more. The beauty of those quilts is stunning. For batting you can use old thin blanket or if you are like me you will wait for that 50% cupon at AC Moore and buy it then. I keep all my batting leftovers and put them together for smaller projects. Also, Walmart clearance bin has $2 fabric which is cheaper than buying a second hand shirt. Browse craiglist, sometimes people give fabric away for free. Good luck! I went through 4 years of civil war and we had to make due. We made coats out of blankets and clothes from drapes.

Ellageo, that is the most attractive quilt that I have ever seen made from men's shirts. You should be justifiably proud. What a fantastic, great job! Would love to see more of your quilts.

I used to give my husband's shirts to Goodwill until recently. It occurred to me that there is a lot of good cotton fabric in a man's shirt. They are available quite inexpensively at thrift shops.

I have been collecting leather from goodwill for quite a while. no concrete plan, but . . . . someday, right? ;)

Do you like making scrappy quilts? I have lot of scraps that I can give you. PM
NormaBeth