quiltlicious

July 07, 2015.

People who meet me today are sometimes surprised to learn that I had a completely different life BQ (Before Quilting, that is!). I worked at one of the leading biotechnology companies, https://www.gene.com/ for about 15 years. It was a great time in my life. I worked very hard and felt a significant sense of accomplishment. Genentech made many innovations during that time. Along with all the hard work, we had lots of fun. This fun translated to lots of t-shirts & sweatshirts to commemorate our successes. When I left the company, I had two big bins of what can only be described as “Genentech Spirit-wear”. So, naturally, I decided to turn the shirts into a quilt!

Today, T-shirt quilts are a cottage industry. An internet search can easily find you half a dozen or more vendors who can transform your t-shirts into quilts. At a price.  I already had most of the gear for quilting. So, I checked out many of the available t-shirt quilting books. I also purchased  “T-Shirt Quilts Made Easy” by Martha DeLeonardis to guide me through my first t-shirt quilt.

First, I selected my favorite logo designs and washed the clothing to remove any residual fabric softener. (Fabric Softener will prevent you from getting a good fuse in the next step.) Next,  I cut the shirts apart and fused (ironed) featherweight interfacing to stabilize the back of each logo. (I used 911FF Pellon Fusible Featherweight, which is very forgiving). The fusing took SO MUCH LONGER than I thought!  And so hot!

Front of Quilt:

Summary:

Inspiration: The need to pare down two big bins of “Company Swag” wear (…before my spouse threw it all away!)

Pattern: Two-inch Grid method quilts (example: “Fangs 2 U”) from “T-shirt Quilts made easy” by Martha Deleonardis

Special Materials: 911FF Pellon Fusible Featherweight. Specialty rotary cutting rulers are available in 8 1/2”, 10 1/2”, and 12 1/2” sizes. Graph paper is used for mock-up.

Special Skills: For this one… determination!

Extra Resources: You Tube tutorials, as needed.