T-Shirt Blanket Success

When Brett graduated from high school, Jeanette made him a t-shirt quilt as a graduation gift.  It was very nice with quilt blocks representing Brett's life from age two to eighteen.  There was binding all around it and a note stitched on the back, reading, "Made with love by Jeanette Heinisch."  We found a prominent spot to hang it up for his open house and Brett's had it on the end of his bed ever since 2013.  

As Jeanette realized that she probably wouldn't be able to make a t-shirt quilt for the rest of her grandchildren in our family, she asked me to make one for Cal, Meg and Cameron.  I told her that I thought it was outside of my capabilities, but that I would think about it.  When Cal graduated in 2016, I went through all of his memory tubs, saw the t-shirts that we had saved and decide not to attempt a quilt.  I was still working at Milford and I knew that just getting ready for his graduation open house would be enough for me.  Cal didn't seem to mind and enjoyed his party just the same.

I wasn't working when Meg graduated in 2019, but I still was overwhelmed thinking about making a t-shirt quilt for her.  It seemed way beyond my expertise and with Brett graduating with his MPA from IU and Cameron celebrating his confirmation, I knew that I would not have time.  Instead I focused on the photo poster frames like the ones that I did for Cal.  She had a successful open house just like her older two brothers that Meg and I were both proud of hosting.  

This January I started going through all of Cameron's memory tubs to begin the process of getting ready for his graduation open house.  I found a lot of great items in those tubs, but what struck me most of all was all of the clothes that I had saved from his childhood.  As he and I sorted through them, I asked him what he thought about a t-shirt quilt.  He said that he would definitely like one, but if it was too much work or too expensive, he was ok forgoing the traditional graduation gift.  I told him that I would look into it and let him know.

My research led me to a website that constantly appeared in my FaceBook feed.  They made nice t-shirt quilts that were a little bit different than Brett's, but were very nice.  I inquired about a price.  It would be close to $150 and we would have to ship them our shirts.  The price wasn't too bad, but I was afraid of the shirts getting lost or the quilt not arriving on time.  Valerie gave me the phone number of a woman who made quilts for her three children.  I really liked the design of Jacob's as it was a lot like Brett's and the fact that this woman was local was a positive.  The cost was the deterrent, however, as it was about half the price of a laptop.  I couldn't really justify that. 

Cameron and I talked and we decided that we had two options - no quilt or I try to make one myself.  He was for the latter.  I asked Doug and Meg what they thought and they agreed with Cameron.  I started doing some research on how to make one and found a lot of help on YouTube.  They showed me the tools that I would need and how many t-shirts that we have to use.  There was a lot of great advice and even one that showed me how to make a no-sew one.  In the end, I liked a video from the YouTube site - Drink and Sew Things.  The woman was a little nutty, but her video on how to make a t-shirt blanket for beginners was easy to follow.  

Two weeks ago, while Doug was in Florida, I decided to try making Cameron's blanket.  I was extremely nervous when I cut that first shirt, but after doing several of them, I developed a routine and soon had twenty shirts cut into 12" by 12" blocks.  Sewing the shirts together to make a row was actually easier than I thought that it would be.  Ironing was tricky as I couldn't put anything hot near the screen printing or it would melt.  The seams were also hard to press open as they were incredibly small.  I figured it out however, and after a few days, I had five rows to show Cameron.  

After laying it all out, both he and I thought that it would look a lot better with one more row.  I searched through everything that he had and found some more shirts for him to pick from in the memory tubs.  Four more were sewed together and soon the six rows were one long piece.  Cameron picked blue for the backside of the blanket and I found a great piece of fleece at Walmart that fit perfectly.  I was super nervous about sewing the back on as it seemed a little daunting.  It took me an hour and a half to pin the two together and an hour to sew it.  In the end both Cameron and I were thrilled with the outcome.  It represented Cameron's childhood well, was brightly colored and only cost $65 total.  The nice part was that the quilting tools that I bought for $50 could be used to make a blanket for Cal and Meg.  Thus, Cameron's t-shirt blanket really only cost $15 and would make a nice wall hanging at his open house.  I told Cameron before I started that it may not be perfect, but the blanket would be made with love.  It definitely was and I couldn't be more proud of my newfound skill.