I made this lap quilt using some of my grandson's old clothes to give to their other grandmother who is in a Nursing Home. I appliqued the fronts of 2 of their toddler shirts, leaving the bottoms open and placing one in each direction so she could use them like pockets to hold a magazine or newspaper. Some of the random stripes were parts of their clothes, but most were just scraps from other projects. The denim strips on each side were torn and fringed from their pants. I hope these pictures are the ones I intended to send. LOL

That is great! I love the idea for the pockets. :D

The quilt is plum cute. What a great idea.

how cute and thoughtful, I'm sure she will enjoy it. It will warm her body as well as her heart.

Thanks everyone. They gave it to her in 2005. And she did like it and she said they couldn't have given her anything she would liked better. She has dementia, but she remembered the little shirts. I made it in a hurry and didn't do as well as I would have liked. I quilted it on a hoop and that's not the easiest thing to do, but............

NOW, I need everybody's input/suggestions. Our daughter is moving to another country as a missionary and she has about 22 sorority tee shirts from which she wants a quilt. I'm both excited and apprehensive about starting this project. Actually, I'm procrastinating. I've had several ideas about how to do it. I finally decided that it should be lightweight and easy to launder ( a summer quilt). At first, I considered making it as a duvet cover, but changed my mind about that.

I bought some iron on batting to stabilize the tee fabric. The blocks will be quite large...perhaps 14"-16" Sqaure. I am thinking I will set it together with 4" ragged blocks sewn in strips. What do you think..???????

I had forgotten that I quilted their initials into the quilt randomly with the hearts...AC and TC. I just noticed that in the picture.

What a great idea for a quilt. I wonder if something like that would work for my Dad the pockets would keep his hands warm. He is always taking his bad arm and sticking it inside his jamies to hold it in place and keep it warm.

ceannastahr, I think the pockets would work for your dad's arm & hands. I just thought of something else...you might take part of a sleeve from an old shirt...maybe from the elbow down including the cuff. He could pull the quilt close to his body & slide the arm into it. I'm picturing it in my head.

I have lots more projects in mind....I've been saving old cotton clothes that still have good fabric to use in quilts. I can remember quilts from my childhood and some I still have that had pieces of clothes I had worn. It was so much fun to remember when I wore that dress or that skirt, etc. I would say I'm new to quilting, but I'm not...I quilted along side my mother and aunt even before I was a teenager...that was a long time ago. :roll: ..but haven't done much in many years. Just never found the time.

One thing I want to do is make the grandsons ( they're twins, but you'd never guess) a quilt from their old tees and make a bed skirt using denim and sewing on back pockets from their old jeans that they could use for books, the remote or whatever ........I realize that I'd have to leave some fabric around the jean's pocket to make it big enough to hold a book...that's something to figure out as I go.

I'm reluctant to mention these things, because someone will be expecting me to have them finished soon. I won't, but I can still dream.

When I have made tshirt quilts, I use my 12 1/2" square ruler to cut the graphic design from the shirt. Very convenient! I back each knit square with cotton calico, muslin, old sheets, or something similar. I like to use sashing between the blocks, too. It's pretty heavy at this point, so carefully consider what kind of batting and backing you want. Tshirts and the inks used on them can be hard on your needles. I think I went through 17 needles on the last one I made - It was double-sided tshirts and had a cotton batting.

That's a good idea, Cathe. I had thought about using an old sheet. Do you bond the layer to the knit? I bought the iron-on batting which looks like felt. Do you, or anyone, know if it bonds tightly or can I peel it off if it doesn't look right?

Also, I know that 100% cotton would make the best rag quilt, but will other mixed blends of fabrics work okay and hold up to repeated washings?

I've got soooooo many questions. I'll save some for later :!: