A very late Christmas present... (Upcycled Quilt)

[jesskreck]

Once upon a time there was a very optimistic and delusional crafter who thought she could make a quilt in two weeks, in time to give it to her boyfriend for Christmas.  She industriously chose the fabrics, came up with a design and spent hours ironing, cutting out and stitching squares... and then she realized that there was no way she'd finish that quilt on time!

Well, six weeks later, our hero has triumphed over her procrastinating ways and finished the quilt! Behold:

[Okay, I'll stop talking in the third person...]

This is my second quilt and I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I wanted to make a quilt entirely out of second-hand fabrics, so I used 7 large men's dress shirts and 2 high quality sheets from a thrift shop -- altogether, the fabrics cost less than $50, which is very reasonable considering how nice the fabric is.

I tried to keep some of the pockets and tailored details from the dress shirts, and I really like how it turned out...

Last fall I invested in a computerized sewing machine.  This was my first big project since buying that machine, and I could really tell the difference that a nice machine makes.  My machine has lettering stitches, so I had to test them out on a little label.  Also, notice how the label says "Jan. 2011"?  This was on purpose, to force myself to finish the quilt by the end of the month. (It totally worked!)

The size of this quilt (66" x 90") made it pretty challenging to do the actual quilting, especially at the centre of the quilt.  That said, this was a fairly easy quilt to make as it is made entirely of squares and I just quilted along the seams.  Now I'm itching to do something with more complicated patchwork, but I'll definitely start with something smaller, not give myself an impossible deadline!

Thanks so much for looking, and please feel free to post any questions!

[twilight_blazes]

NICE ) bet your boyfriend loved it! Great upcycling idea for mens shirts/pjs

[stellou]

I love men's shirt fabric...This is a super quilt and what a great way to recycle

[ManitoulinGirl]

That's lovely and yet still masculine.  Love the idea of using men's shirts. 

[ZumaGirl74]

six weeks is still really good for a whole quilt!  I love the fabrics you used, and how you incorporated the buttons & pockets.

[magdiego]

That's so totally cool!  Did you use the sheets for the back, the top or both?

[Giddiup222]

Very nice. Great idea 

[jesskreck]

Thanks everyone!

magdiego - I used the sheets for the back, binding and a few squares when I ran out of dress shirts -- great source of extra fabric!

[DaisyAlly]

I would think it would be difficult to make a manly quilt, but you totally pulled it off, I love it! Fantastic choice of shirts 

[waggonswest]

Really nice. Fantastic upcycling and I love the look of the menswear and the details you left in it.