Ask Jo: Shirts and Barn Quilts

Every so often questions and comments come from readers that I think others would like to hear my response to.  That’s when I feature them on the blog.  This is one of those days.

There has been a lot of talking in the comment section of people wanting the pattern for a quilt that was featured in a recent Community Quilt post.  You can read it all HERE.

This is the quilt.  Kathleen finished the quilt.  Isn’t it so cute??  Initially I thought it was a Lori Holt quilt but I was wrong.

A kind blog reader, Janice, hunted down the patterh.  You can find the pattern HERE.  It is offered as a PDF so you can download it instantly!!

So cute.  I thought it was appropriate to share here as so many of you asked.

Another blog reader, Nancy, let me know that the Midnight Magic 2 fabric that I used for the background of the Halloween quilt is in stock at Fat Quarter Shop.  This is the print and you can find it HERE.

Halloween Hoopla was published in the October 2021 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting.

This is the quilt…

You might remember that this is the quilt that many of you sent fabric to me so I could make it.  There has a been an issue getting the fabric for the background in and it’s finally here.

I’m sure other shops have it in now too.  It’s called Midnight Magic II Ghost Tiny Stars if you’re looking.

Thanks Nancy for letting us know.

The other topic that was asked of me is…Once I have my 100% recycled men’s shirts destructed, how do I use it as fabric??

I took some pictures as I was cutting out a quilt and hopefully I can do some explaining.  Typically one or both sides of the shirt front have a pocket.  I cut the pocket and the fabric under the pocket piece off and put them in the crumb quilt bin.

I use these crumb pieces to make quilts like this for my grandkids as baby quilts.

Here is Gannon’s

Here is Georgia’s.

Other pieces that have gone in my crumb bin include, fabric from the cuffs and collar and any pieces that I cut off in an effort to square up the piece I’m of the shirt I am cutting…

For example, a shirt sleeve has a triangular piece that needs to be cut off to square up the sleeve so those pieces go in the crumb box…I also put the small pieces that I cut off around the placet of the shirt cuff where the opening is.

If you aren’t a crumb quilter, those pieces can be squared up and cut into squares for a strips box.

Then I take my pattern and I figure out what I need.  For this quilt, you can see the pieces that I need.  Now…what is the best way to get them from the pieces of the shirt that I have?  It’s kind of like working a puzzle.

The back is always good for long pieces….The sleeves can be too but not always depending on the sleeve length.

If possible, it isn’t in the case of this shirt, I try to cut as much as I can from everything except the back.  I love the backs as they are similar to working with a fat quarter.  If I can use up the “odd” pieces first, I consider that a win.  As I said, that wasn’t possible with this shirt as I need 10″ long pieces and couldn’t get them anyway besides cutting the back.

I square up the edge of whatever piece I pick and then start cutting strips the width I need.  For the 1 1/2″ longer strips I cut from the back…

For the 2 1/2″ x 7″ pieces I cut them from the front of the shirt below the pocket.

I cut the strips into the lengths I need.

I often cut two quilts at once when I am working with shirts.  Here I am cutting squares for a different quilt.

The reason I do this is that I’ve found I don’t love pulling out shirt pieces and cutting them.  They are kind of awkward to work with as they aren’t pretty and squared up like a fat quarter.

It’s totally worth it as I love shirt quilts…but, I don’t love pulling them out and cutting out quilts.  It’s totally doable and I don’t hate it…just don’t love it.

In light of that, I make a big effort to cut the entire shirt piece up as I pull them out to work with them.  Here you can see I have them cut up and piled into strip widths.  There are 1 1/2, 2, 2 1/2, and 3 1/2 inch piles.  All of these will go into my strip boxes.

The next time I am cutting for a quilt, I will go to the strip bins first and use what is there before I cut into new shirts…or shirts that have already been deconstructed.

Here are my scrap bins.

This is the 1 1/2″ box.

It is just a joy to me to have these bins.  When I’m ready to make a quilt all I have to do is go to the strip bin and start cutting.  It’s a chore to start these bins but once they are established, they are a joy!!

If I am able to save the backs as an uncut piece I fold them up and store them in these three drawer units.

Working with shirts can be challenging but a system is in place to use them, it isn’t hard at all.  I encourage anyone who is a quilter to have a good system for scrap use in place…or you can be like some quilters and just pass the sraps on to someone who will use them.

I hope that answers some of the questions…if you have more ask in the comment section and will answer them there.