Another Shirt Quilt

I previously said that I had finished another quilt. I will show it off...NOW! I made this quilt out of old shirts and other garments combined with scraps I had. The only thing I bought was the batting! I decided to do this because I was sentimental about some of the clothes. Don't think I'm a clothes hoarder or anything...I give away several bags of old clothes each year to thrift stores due to my limited closet space and penchant for clearance shopping at places like Old Navy and TJ Maxx. (By the way, if anyone in the Fargo area has anything to donate I recommend the New Life Center. It is a multi-denominational rescue mission. They have a thrift store but they also give items to homeless people at the mission and people in the community. I was moved when I was shopping there a few years ago for some old picture frames for a project and saw a little 8x11 sign by the door that said "All toys free to a good home". They give toys to kids for free! I also saw a family that looked like they had recently immigrated trying on winter coats. Can you imagine coming to Fargo and not having a winter coat? I immediately thought of the rarely worn fleece jackets and old coats that I had been hauling around for years and how much nicer they were than what was there. It was easy to let them go when I thought of another young woman finding a nice Columbia among the old crap on the rack. Anyway...it's a good place to donate if your closets are overflowing.)


I did it the easy way and tied it instead of quilting it. I can't imagine myself with a needle and thread actually quilting. I love this thing! It might look kind of ugly, but each square has meaning to me (well, most of them do)! Let me explain...

So many fabrics! Where do I start...that yellow plaid was a shirt I had in high school. I bought it when I went shopping before my basketball team went to State in 1999. I guess my mom thought the event required some new items in my wardrobe! (We did have many events to dress up for in addition to the games, such as banquets and hospitality rooms). I loved it but it was a size L, the size I chose when I was in high school. Everything was baggy and wide and now I know better so I cut up the shirt!

That solid turquoise fabric was from a pair of "scrub" pants I bought at a KD convention. I thought they were cute but they were actually pretty unflattering. They had a long crotch and strangely shaped legs. Of course they were...they were real scrub pants like drs. and nurses wear! They worked well with the other colors in the quilt at least.

The squares with the little daisies were from a sarong my aunt gave me for a present when I was still lifeguarding. It was a long peice of fabric that was meant to be wrapped around your waist and tied. I loved it because it was from Old Navy before Old Navy had infiltrated ND and was still a novelty. It also made a very cute addition to this quilt!

I wore this plaid shirt alot during my last two years of college. The first time I wore it, and I believe the reason I bought it, was on my 21st birthday in 2004. I was so excited to turn 21 and I loved this shirt. I still do...I almost didn't cut it up even though I haven't worn it for probably 4 years!

Oh, the Hawaiian dress...I actually sewed that disaster myself for a Hawaiian themed dance. It was the first garment I had sewn since home-ec. If anyone has ever used a pattern, you know that the size charts on the envelopes are wonky. Not being aware of this, I cut this thing about three sizes bigger than my normal size because the chart said a person who wore my size should have a 25 inch waist or some nonsense like that. I haven't been that size since 6th grade so I sized it up. Well, of course the dress ended up being nicely assembled but huge and my mom had to fix it. After that it fit perfectly! I think the pattern industry needs to reevaluate their sizing. I don't think it has changed since girdles were a part of womens' daily attire.

This shirt was from the palace of cheapness known as Old Navy. I bought it the summer after my Freshman year of college and wore it when I went with my soon to be KD housemates to Minneapolis for the weekend to go to our friends' birthday party. It was a blast and afterwards I knew that the rest of my college years were going to be filled with fun times and friends.

There's me and Roommate and the shirt in a more business like setting!

This picture was also from the time around my 21st birthday. In this picture my friend Jill and I are wearing the same shirt. These shirts were similar to my 21st birthday outfit. I think Western must have been a trend at that time.

Oh, my toga...this toga party took place the spring of my Freshman year. We girls went to Walmart to buy fabric for our togas and I bought 6 yards because I didn't know what I was doing. Well, 6 yards is alot of cloth. I think I cut off 3 to wrap around myself. Lucky for me there was enough of the toga to use for the back of the quilt, as well as for some squares! Perfect! I believe my sister wore my toga for one of the high school homecoming theme days the next year. I think its funny that I actually owned a garment that was specifically a toga! Who does that?

Awwww...Bergen on the beautiful west coast of Norway...The shirt I'm wearing was cheap and way to trendy to last but I held on to it because it reminded me of my trip to Norway. It didn't have alot of fabric to work with, but I got a few squares of the pretty embroidery.

The quilt is very light and soft and perfect for sitting on the couch. I'm glad I decided to do it while I had time on my hands!