Recently, a By Hand reader from New York e-mailed that she has a large collection of high school and college athletics T-shirts that belong to her son, who is now grown and married. He no longer wants the T-shirts. Mom doesn’t want to throw away or donate the T-shirts. She asked for ideas on how to turn those T-shirts into a quilt.

My first thought was: Do no harm. Before cutting up irreplaceable T-shirts that symbolize an era of a son’s or daughter’s life, take time to think about the stories that go with them. Those stories mustn’t be lost. I suggest photographing each T-shirt and writing a quick synopsis of its history in the child’s life – where it was obtained, what sport it’s associated with, coaches’ names, where the big game was played, who won, names of team members, records set, games won.

The other thing to consider is the fact that a married son or daughter in the next few years may produce offspring who, in a decade or so, would just love to add Dad or Mom’s old high school and college T-shirts to their wardrobe.

Given those considerations, think about making a quilt that does not require cutting up the T-shirts. This can be done using the technique of applique. Buy a sheet in the size you want and applique T-shirts to it. This may be done by hand or machine. It will be tedious work and take awhile to do, but it’s reversible in the event that down the road some family member yet to be born would like to wear one of the shirts. Or, if it turns out that some of the T-shirts are valuable to collectors of vintage sports memorabilia, a few snips and the T-shirts are liberated.

After the T-shirts have been appliqued to the sheet, add the batting and the backing. Backing material should be woven cotton.

The three layers of the quilt will need to be joined in some way. Tying it, instead of hand or machine quilting, will cause minimal damage to the T-shirts.

If cutting up the T-shirts doesn’t matter, then by all means slice and dice to your heart’s content. Make a paper template of a size that will encompass the area of the logos on the front of the shirts. Cut each piece carefully to make the most of the logo.

Straw.com suggests interfacing each piece with fusible interfacing that will stabilize the T-shirt material to prevent it from stretching. I’m not a fan of fusible material. Basically it’s glue and may cause fabric to feel stiff and unfriendly. Attempting to hand-sew through it is a nightmare. Instead of fusible anything, I’d use unbleached muslin to back and stabilize the T-shirt pieces.

“How to Make a Too Cool T-Shirt Quilt” by Andrea Funk may be all the tried-and-true help one needs to get started. Visit www.toocooltshirtquilts.com to view a photo gallery of quilts made from T-shirts. The company makes quilts using T-shirts customers provide, and they don’t use fusible interfacing.

Snippets

Father’s Day is June 15. There’s still time for children to craft a gift for Dad. Buy an unadorned cap, get some puffy paint at the craft store and decorate the hat to suit Dad’s interests – a flag if he’s a veteran, a fish if he’s an outdoorsman or maybe the words “My Dad is the Best.”

The Bangor Area Sewing Guild is offering a class on drafting pants patterns for women at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, June 14, at the Hampden municipal building. Participants will draft a pattern using their own measurements. The cost is $10 guild members, $15 others. An additional cost of $5 for supplies also will be charged. Bring stretchy pants or pantyhose over which measurements will be taken. To register or to obtain information, call Kathy at 941-8815.

The Blue Marble Gallery in Waterville and artists Linda Murray and Judith Krischik invite artists and nonartists to collaborate on an installation piece called “Soul Quilt,” inspired by the book “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle. The only requirement is that the each piece measure 6 inches by 6 inches. The piece may be constructed of any material, including fabric, wood or even written material. Participants may use pencil, crayon, paint, collage or other media. The idea behind the project, Murray said, is to create the square spontaneously without planning or using patterns. Deadline for submitting work is Saturday, Aug. 2. Drop it off at the gallery or mail it to Blue Marble, 165 Main St., Waterville 04901. For information or to have a piece of blank 6-inch-by-6-inch paper mailed to you, call Murray at 443-8801 or e-mail Linda@artbytheriver.com. All artwork submitted will be for sale with proceeds to benefit Freshwater Arts in Waterville, which provides supplies and tuition to local children.

Members of the Yellow Rose Chapter, located in Texas, of the Embroiders’ Guild of America have been stitching “kissing pillows” for distribution to servicemen and women. The 4-inch-square pillows, cross-stitched with a heart enclosing the words “I love you” and two stars, are delivered to soldiers who may be deployed overseas. The purpose of the pillow is to give family members something to hold onto while Dad or Mom are away. The departing soldier kisses the little pillow and gives it to loved ones. Or loved ones kiss a pillow for the soldier to take along. To learn more about the kissing pillow project, visit www.ega-gpr.org/CommunityOutreach.html.

Sock knitters are invited to gather 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, June 14, at Fiberphilia in Orono for a day of conversation about patterns, yarns and techniques specific to knitting socks. It’s free and informal. Call 866-3423 for information.

ahamlin@bangordailynews.net

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