Trying Something New: A Quilt!

Early in December I was trying to come up with a great Christmas gift idea for my husband, Ward. I don't know about you, but my husband in not easy to buy gifts for. He either wants expensive electronics (that he would need to pick out for himself) or he just picks things up when he wants them and then there is nothing left for me to give him.

So, back to thinking about something to get to him for Christmas. After a few boring gift ideas, I came up with the idea of making him a t-shirt quilt.

I know the concept of t-shirt quilt isn't new, but for a non-sewer like me it was a pretty big idea.

Ward had a big stack of t-shirts in our closet that he had moved out of his clothes wearing rotation, but he didn't want to part with the shirts. Years ago he has said that he would love to have a t-shirt quilt with all of his shirts. I laughed and said, yes, that would be great, wouldn't it!?!

I did a web search and found a couple of sites (here and here) that gave me guidance on how to start this project.  I also talked to my sister Melanie to get details on the project since she's made them before. It's too bad she lives across the country from me or we could have worked on it together!

I set off to Hobby Lobby with my supply list in hand. Rotary cutter, cutting mat, interface (did you know you can buy it buy the yard?!?), batting and thread. Oh, and I went to Target to buy a grey full sized sheet for the backing on the quilt.

One of the trickiest things about putting this together was that Ward works from home a lot of the time. He luckily has one set day in the office each week that I knew I could freely work. He's in and out of the house the rest of the days to meetings, so I was always listening for the garage door to open and signal that it was time to put the project away.

Luckily I never got caught!

One of the coolest things about making this quilt is that my husband designed about half of these shirts. He loves t-shirt design and did a full line of shirts a few years ago. It was such a fun free time project for him. Hopefully he'll be able to do it again sometime!

One thing I learned was that I really enjoy crafting with paper much more than fabric. Of course I loved the process of making something meaningful for my husband, but I don't think I'll be taking sewing up as a major hobby any time soon.

Success! Ward loves his quilt!

Now I wonder what I will come up with next year for his Christmas present.