The Christmas Quilt

Not that this is a particularly Christmas-like quilt.  More that it was given as a gift at Christmas time. I made it for my Step-Daughter and Son-in-Law.  I included this letter:

                                                                                                                                       Christmas 2014

Dear Ashley & Ben,

          This is a quilt I made from t-shirts.  It is a simple design that takes a piece of felt and sandwiches it between the front and back of a t-shirt.  In this case I sacrificed one of those U-Haul moving blankets that have been a part of every move the family made since 2001.  Between moves they served as dog blankets.  Not to worry… I washed them before they became quilt squares.  Once I had 42 such squares, I sewed them together and added a border made from the only two colors of scrap cloth in the closet in sufficient quantity to serve the purpose.  Voila!  An instant family heirloom.

          There are t-shirts that have some meaning; Ben’s Training Squadron t-shirt, for example.  Your mother wore that shirt proudly but it was given to the project because of its relevance.  Other shirts where added because I thought they were funny or poignant. The Callahan Auto Parts shirt from the movie “Tommy Boy” or the one that says “Gone to my Happy Place.  Be back soon.” are such candidates.  Others I only selected for the color variety.  In this case you can remove them and replace them with others that mean something to you as time goes by.  It’s a fitting end to those t-shirts you really love but that have finally worn out.

          The quilt is tested and proves to be quite warm.  I suppose it is a bit heavy but that could not be helped.  In future quilts (if any) I could opt for poly-fill instead of felt… we’ll see…  Anywhooo… it was made and given with much love from me to you.  Hope it is snuggly enough.

          Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Be warm.

                                                                             Love,

                                                                          Chris    

P.S.   Do NOT wash it.  The felt will shrink like mad and you’ll be left with a wrinkled wad of multicolored fabric the size of a washcloth.  If you must wash it; line dry it instead of using a clothes dryer.

This is how it turned out:

The quilt's flip-side is nothing more than the other side of the t-shirt from which the front image was cut: 

Some were chosen for their relevance such as this one.  It's Ben's Air Force Basic Training Squadron t-shirt: 

Some were picked from my old shirts that are now too small or too worn-out: 

Some were included because they were funny: 

The remainder were picked up at the Goodwill store for a buck apiece and chosen for their cool colors: 

Sewed on a tag with her name and the year, wrapped it up with twine and it's ready to be mailed to Okinawa.

I am rather proud of my little instant heirloom quilt.  I might make another or I may move on to other grand projects.  I've been thinking about a lawn-mower shed made from old shipping pallets.