Making a T-shirt Quilt

I decided to finally take my pile of t-shirts and sweatshirts from college and make them into the quilt I have always wanted to. This is a super economical project :)

I started by going to my local home improvement store and having plexi glass cut into squares that would make it easier to cute out my squares for my quilt. I decided to go with 12x12 and 6x6 squares.
They were able to cut the glass from scrapes so it only cost $1 for the plexi glass!
The 12x12 square would be for the backs of the t-shirts and the 6x6 would be for the area on the front.


I then cut my t-shirts into two pieces
Laid out the shirt onto my cutting board and used a rolli cutter to cut around my plexi glass template. (I sat on a hard surface like my tile kitchen floor to cut)
I cut out 6x6 squares from the scrap t-shirt material to help add more color to my quilt.

I then figured out how I wanted to put the squares and the pattern I was going to use. I put them in chronological order starting with freshman year shirts at the top and then worked my way through the years, ending with senior year shirts on the bottom two rows.
I put a 12x12 square and then 2 6x6 squares stacked on top of each other. Alternating the start of each row with either a 12x12 square or 2 6x6 squares to make a neat pattern.
I used interfacing to make the squares a bit stiffer and easier to sew together.
I sewed two 6x6 squares together then sewed the 12x12 square to it and continued down the row.

After sewing the whole row then sew the rows together.

I then bought batting and took an old jersey knit sheet and sewed the sheet and the rows of quilted shirts together. I folded the sheet and the front of the quilt in and pinned the sides together, I then used the zig zag stitch.
Voila... here is my quilt. I can't wait to curl up on cold New England days or use it for a picnic in the Commons and get to tell all about my Alma Mater.. it will be a story board of my wonderful time at MC :)