Tom's T-Shirt Memory Quilt

My oldest brother, Tom, passed away in January. One of my nieces kept some of his t-shirts for a quilt and I offered to make it. When I found out that there would be a large gathering on Memorial Day to celebrate and commemorate what would have been his 80th birthday, I put the pedal to the metal and finished the quilt with a couple of days to spare.

Tom was a Navy Seabee and served in Vietnam. He was exposed to Agent Orange which was the reason he lived his later years disabled.

The red/white/blue borders on each of the smaller t-shirt pieces, and the inside quilt border are also from one of Tom's shirts. 

My niece gave me a rather rough layout that she thought would work and suggested gray for the background. I was able to draft a pattern from the layout but couldn't imagine gray for the background after auditioning every gray in our house. I went to the Quilt Peddler in Fennimore, WI and Jen, the owner, took one look at the t-shirts and showed me the perfect gray! She only had 2.5 yards, so we decided on a navy outer border, Stars of Valor Navy Flag Texture from Wilmington Prints. I ended up buying the coordinating Stars of Valor Red Flag Texture for the backing.

I decided a simple meandering would work for the quilt and not take away from the shirts. I did add a few hidden words in the meandering - Tom, Dad, Gramps, Fuzzy (his nickname), and Santa (his other nickname). 

I used Dream Poly for the batting - a big change for me since I always use Dream Cotton. I did not want this quilt to pucker so much; I wanted the t-shirts to be readable. I used Glide #1BLK3, Shadow thread on the top and #70187, Ruby thread on the back. The quilt is 65" by 85".

I had four extra shirts and made 16" pillows with them. The pillows are lined and have an envelope closure. It really helped that the shirts were a large size so I had plenty of fabric to work with. Here are a couple:

We had a great Memorial Day - watching the parade, visiting with family and friends, eating some of Tom's favorite foods and treats, remembering and celebrating Tom. People loved the quilt and it went home with my sister-in-law. I'm really happy that I was able to get it finished. Making the quilt helped me - I've never cried so much making a quilt. Now I hope it and the pillows will bring comfort to Tom's family. 

Made with Love