Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Crazy Crooked T-Shirt Quilt

My love affair with quilts and quilting began when I was around four years old. An older couple, the Turners, lived in a shotgun house at the back of my Grandmother's home. I loved visiting them. Mrs. Turner was always busy with some kind of handwork, usually piecing a quilt or quilting one on a huge frame. I decided I would make my own quilt one day and told Mrs. Turner so. But, she wouldn't let me use the scissors! She convinced me that I could make a quilt by tearing pieces of paper out of the Sears Roebuck catalog and taping them together. I was hooked. Since then, I have made many "real" quilts and collected over 100. 

A few years ago, I became interested in utility quilts, especially ones made locally. While talking to several ladies about their quilts, I began to realize that the T-shirt quilts they were making were 21st century utility quilts! I myself had "tons" of old T-shirts, so I decided to try my hand at it. 

I wanted the quilt to go together quickly, without having to use templates or patterns. And, I wanted this to be fun, without all the rules of piecing together a traditional quilt. 

Here's what I did:



First, I let my collection of red, white, and blue t-shirts set the color scheme. Then I gathered together cotton shirts and fabric--even a couple of wool skirts--whatever I could find. After all, this was to be a utility quilt, so anything goes!

To keep the t-shirts from stretching, I ironed a stabilizer to the back and cut the prints into various large squares and rectangles.

I then played with all the pieces until  I had a good idea what I wanted to do.


I decided to tilt several of the blocks by adding elongated triangles all the way around. I didn't worry about corners or the sides matching. Once I had all four sides sewn, I trimmed any excess.

  
I appliqued a few squares, adding fabric strips to the sides. 


I love folk quilts, so I used a few of my applique patterns.


To add interest (and use up all those shirts and skirts), I tore strips of the fabrics into various widths and lengths and stitched them together into various sizes. 



I began the quilt top last winter but had to store it in a closet during our busy summer and fall. The day after Christmas, I was cleaning out a closet and found my utility quilt in progress. What better time to finish it? So, I uncovered my treadle sewing machine and went to work. All the pieces were there, stacked neatly together. Now, for the fun part! I began to mix and match squares into vertical panels, filling in any gaps with fabric strips. Along the edges, I added the stripped pieces. Before I knew it, I had a quilt top finished!


I think you can now see why I call it "The Crazy Crooked T-Shirt Quilt"! 

Try making one for yourself this winter. The process was a lot of fun and very easy. There's no set rules. Get rid of the rules! 
Enjoy!

This post is Linked to:
Make It Great Monday @ Etcetorize 
and
Motivated Monthly @ Etcetorize 
Check it out!

2 comments:

Betty said...

This quilt is so much more interesting than others I've seen. I like it.

Etcetorize said...

What a wonderful recycle. I have to say I also like Mrs. Turner's intro to quilting for you. I might have to use that with a little one I know. I'm so glad you shared this at the Make it Great party, you could also share at the new Motivated Monthly theme party. These month's theme is recycled projects. Check it out (http://etcetorize.blogspot.ca/2012/05/motivated-monthly.html)

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