Shirts, Shirts, and More Shirts!

A post from Kelli–

So believe it or not, I haven’t yet made a quilt completely out of shirts.  I have been collecting them for quite some time, but just haven’t finished anything.  I recently finished up some blocks for my Moth in the Window quilt and they are just so soft!  I can barely believe it!  So needless to say, I have been bitten by the bug!

I have been collecting shirts for a while, but that’s about it.  But lately, the color choice at my thrift stores (or dealers as I like to call them) has been AMAZING!!!

Here’s how I choose what to purchase–At The Depot, shirts are $2.00 each.  At Spectrum, you can usually get a bag for $5.00.  Often times, that is the regular sized plastic grocery sack, but sometimes, it’s the large one or a garbage bag that donations may have been brought in with.  When I go to the Depot, I start with the larger sizes and pull anything neutral or a color to a project that I’ve been working on.  Because they are larger sizes, there is more fabric, so I don’t feel bad paying a bit more.  As the sizes decrease, my threshold for buying is supposed to as well, but it doesn’t always.  I also make sure to look through the pajama pants because there are some awesome finds there too!  At Spectrum, I pretty much buy anything and everything!

Here’s one of my most recent hauls–About $80.00 worth of shirts, but soooo worth it!

As you can see, I was able to find some really cool purple-ish ones on the top and a couple good green ones too.  Since ER was added to Hulu, I just sit with my pile and binge Hulu while cutting.

I start by cutting the bottom off of the shirt and then cut up the sides and the front.  I then cut the front panels off.  Then I cut off the sleeves and throw them in a pile.  Next I finish off the backs and cut the yokes off.  Once I get through a whole bunch, I do the sleeves.  I cut the cuffs and the upper seams.  Then I rip down the odd angled part and put them in a box with the yokes to use for little parts or strings.

The–The ironing–And I love the ironing!!!I

I ended up hauling a table in from the garage to set up with piles to cut and then a cutting mat to hopefully get some strips cut.  I have accumulated to pretty tall piles, but now just need to accumulate some time to get them all cut down!

Here I have a pile of backs that need to get folded and put in their containers and a box with the sleeve extras and yokes.

Needless to say, it’s quite the process and I’m really looking forward to getting everything ironed and cut down so that I can sew-sew-sew!  I keep telling myself that once I get it all done, it’ll be worth it, but boy is it a pain in the mean time!  And the worst part is that just as soon as I get all of the shirts I have done, I’m sure some more will find their way into my cart and make their way to my house….it always seems to happen that way!