If you specify you only want woven shirts and not have different weights/types of fabric you shouldn't need to mess with any kind of fusible interfacing unless the shirts are really threadbare. I did this once for a lady out of her departed mom's clothes and set no such restrictions. It was rather nightmarish and I swore I would never do another one. However, I let her choose a somewhat complex block design and set no limits on what types of fabric I would work with so I had everything from thin cotton housedress material to sweatshirts to a lycra bathing suit that she insisted be included. Had I put limitations on the clothing items it would have been much easier.

I know how you feel about this project. I was asked to do a quilt out Tshirt and someone else had already started the project, not knowing what they were doing either. It's been a thorn in my side mostly due to my inexperience. But I do know that this project will stretch me and teach me, in the end you will be glad...it will come together and it will be a huge comfort to the person you are creating it for. There are websites out there that can help you with patterns and instructions too. I looked up memory quilts, tshirt quilts and rememberance quilts to get more info. Hope you are able to find what you need.

Please don't do this quilt as you did not give the impression that it is something you really want to do. If you feel you are forced to do something, you will not do your best work. This would not be fair to you or the person you would be working for. Just my opinion.

I love doing things like this. The result will probably be very precious to the person who asked you to do it.
I would not allow the person to pick a difficult pattern. I have a few easy ones I do, adn I would be upfront and honest and tell them that I would have artistic license with the project.
I would probably ask them to bring over a specific type of clothing, all shirts or all jeans or all slacks or all ties or all whatever. I would ask that they launder it first.
I would explain to them any costs that they will have and would set a long time frame for finishing.
Having quilted with the Mennonites who use mostly donated fabrics, they do mix and match stuff and yes, knits are harder to work with, but in the end, the quilt always looks great!
If you really don't want to do this, then it's probably best to not do it. It is something that takes extra time and energy and lots of love and caring, and sometimes, esp if you didn't know that person, it's just hard to do.

I am in the process of making 4 quilts from recycled men's shirts. This is what I did.
- Laundered all shirts (they came from the Salvation Army)
- Cut them into 5 large pieces: fronts, sleeves, back. I put all the bits (collars, cuffs etc.) in a box. Need to decide later about this stuff.
- Starched everything heavily
- Cut everything into 5" charms and 2 3/4 inch "quarter charms"
Got a couple of Pat Speth's Nickle Quilt books, and was good to go!
By starching everything, the different weights didn't seem to matter much. All shirts were 100% cotton and ranged in weight from a heavy work twill to a light dress shirt.

Good for you !!! I even save the buttons and I did the same with the collars and cuffs ( hubby's cotton shirts)...And I'm not "tight" with my $$ ,Its just a challenge to me...I also have all of my mom's cotton dresses that she made back in the 50's..she passed away in '67. I make quilt sqs with them...sooo many good memories !!!!

How about doing a small crazy quilt for a wall or to be framed? It could include various kinds of fabrics for many memories and yet be finished in a short amount of time.

I'm loving this idea!! thanks!
Sandy

Flea Market Style magazine had uses for cuffs and collars.

what kind of crazy quilt? using a pattern? how would you start?
help please!