Several months ago I was asked if I could make a t-shirt quilt for a friend who lost her husband a couple of years ago. She showed up with a laundry basket full of t-shirts. She wanted a Queen size quilt but lives in Florida so we didn't want it to be too heavy. We went through the t-shirts to prioritize the ones she really wanted in the main quilt and said I could do what I wanted with the rest and the quilt pattern was totally up to me. Well not only did we end up with what turned out to be more like a King size quilt but 2 lap quilts and a pillow! I used every t-shirt including any logos or images that were on the sleeves or pockets. I used the lightest batting I could find and I'm so happy with how they came out!!! The pictures aren't the best but I did the best I could with all of the rainy days we've been having and they needed to make their way to Florida this week. So here we are, the last several months of sewing.
Instead of doing a guest book that gets stuffed in a drawer and forgotten you can do a signature quilt. This is what my sister and brother-in-law wanted when they got married. Because they got married during Covid restrictions there weren't as many guests as there normally would have been.
To start with I selected a fabric and cut 6.5" squares. We wanted to go with individual blocks to start with in case anyone made an error on their block or wanted to change anything. I had a sample block asking guests not to write close to the edges (seam allowance). We had fabric pigment markers and "test blocks" so guests could test how the markers work on the fabric. Then the hard part, they left the layout and design up to me. I wanted something classy but modern. Something they could have in any room of the house without to match a color scheme but still wanted a bit of color. My nephews wore purple shirts for the wedding so that would be my pop of color.
I started with the pattern I used for the lattice baby quilt from Diary of a Quilter (https://www.diaryofaquilter.com/lattice-baby-quilt-tutorial/). Since my blocks weren't 5" I had to do some math to figure out the side setting triangles and corner triangles but that pattern gave me a great starting point. I also used the no math method explained by SewVeryEasy which I highly recommend (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=colgqmuOzX8)
Here is the end result. They loved it and so did I. I'm so happy to have been a part of this event and that they entrusted me with making this keepsake for them.
Sorry, I can design foundation paper piecing patterns but I've never written a pattern like this before. But here are the measurements I wrote down as I went. Keep in mind we started the signature blocks at 6 1/2" and asked guests to leave at least 1/4" around the edges. As I was laying things out I decided to cut them down to 5 1/2" blocks. Some of the signatures were not centered well and by cutting them down I was able to center them up better.
My measurements:
- Signature blocks: 24 @ 5 1/2"
- Triangles surrounding the signature blocks: 96 - cut 24 4 3/4" squares cut diagonally twice to get 4 triangles out of each square = 96 triangles
- Side setting triangles: 6 9" squares each cut in half once
- Corner triangles: 2 7" squares each cut in half once
- Sashing: 64 @ 7 3/4" x 1 1/2" (approx. 14 yards)
- Accent block in sashing: 40 @ 1 1/2" square
- Borders - sadly I did not write down my measurements. There are actually 5 borders.
- Black / sashing fabric / black / accent fabric / black
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