COLLECTING THE SHIRTS

Snagging shirts from the laundry thinking they’ll never be noticed might not be a good strategy. Although it’s wonderful to surprise your graduate, it’s often better to work with them on the project. Your favorite students may be willing to part with more t-shirts if they know that those shirts won’t be gone forever!

FINDING ADDITIONAL SHIRTS

If you feel that you don’t have enough shirts for a quilt, here are a couple ways to add to your quilt:

• Visit your local Goodwill or thrift shop to see if there are any shirts there that represent his/her school or sport.
• Visit the school’s lost/found. Sometimes things sit in there for a very long time unclaimed.
• Ask family members who are close to your graduate to donate something special for the quilt. Something your graduate recognize that it came from grandpa or dad or whoever.

Consider adding a border to make the quilt bigger.

SURPRISE OR NO SURPRISE?

Should your graduate know about the quilt? My first inclination is to say “yes,” include your graduate from the start. You can still avoid letting them see it until the graduation or the graduation party. Here’s why it’s often better to NOT keep your T-shirt quilt a secret:

You might get more T-shirts than you could by sneaking them out of the wash or rummaging through dresser drawers.

Your graduate may have a T-shirt that he/she dislikes that you may not know about. Once a shirt is sewn and quilted in, there’s no removing it.

Your graduate might have a color preference for the backing other than their school colors. Or your graduate may want to select special printed fabric that fits a sport or hobby.

Your graduate may want to include something other than tees for the quilt like a windbreaker or a uniform.

You don’t know your student’s preference for the quilt layout. Some people like the random look of a mosaic quilt while others prefer the uniform shape of a checkerboard quilt. You may think they’d prefer a certain style but they might surprise you and choose another.

FOND MEMORIES WHILE AT COLLEGE

Some people want to send the quilt off to college with their high school graduates. This is a great way for them to hold onto their high school memories while they spread their wings in college life. College dorms tend to have longer mattresses than a standard mattress but that isn’t always the case. 

Calling the college ahead of time is a good way to be certain. However, making your t-shirt quilt to fit a college dorm mattress may not be the best way to go because students often spend only 1 or 2 years in the dorms. Sizing your quilt for a longer mattress will mean that it may not fit a standard mattress after.

If you’d like the quilt to be used during college dorm life and afterward, then we suggest sizing it for 76” X 84” or 80” X 88” or as close as possible. It may not cover the dorm mattress perfectly but they’ll be happier in the long run.

WHAT’S A QUILT TAG AND DO I NEED ONE FOR MY GRADUATION QUILT?

A quilt tag is entirely up to you. For me, a quilt tag is the bow on the present.  A quilt tag is an embroidered block that is hand sewn onto the back of the quilt. It marks the history of the quilt – who it was for, who it is from and a perhaps a date (even if it’s only the year).  The tag can have a nice saying, a verse, or a graphic. It’s a way of finishing off the quilt to make it even more special and appreciated.