Shirting Quilts

I have a few quilt tops from various flea markets that some day I intend to quilt. That day seems to be getting further away each passing year! I loved that these men's shirting fabrics. All those lovely stripes! So 1970s. The menswear shirt designers were getting pretty bold and exploring new colors like pink and tangerine. They were not 100% cotton, and some were even all polyester, the new wonder fabric.

The next quilt is made of leftover fabrics from a factory. There are stamped numbers on the edges of the pieces. It is a 'summer quilt' with a pieced top and backing but no batting or quilting. It was another cheap eBay find. Our son uses it for his summer quilt now.

The second quilt I ever made was a memory quilt using Mom's painting smocks. Mom was an oil painter, starting painting in an adult ed class when I was a little girl. She favored polyester blends and red tartan plaids.

I used some of her daily blue and beige shirts for a lap quilt for my grandmother.

And more found their way in a quilts I made for my Aunt, mom's sister. Looking at a book my mother-in-law had from her local library I found and traced a pattern called Dobbin's Fan, which I used for these quilts. The fan base was one of mom's shirts, as were some fabrics in the fans.

After my father-in-law passed, I was asked if I was going to do a memory quilt with his shirts. I have the blocks made, but need to set them together. I want a dark  blue print for sashing but have not shopped for it yet. Here are blocks made of Herman's shirts. They were newly bought and rarely worn. Herman was  96 when he passed, and preferred the same old shirts he had worn for many years. Several in his closet had been made by his wife, Laura, who used to sew all their clothes. Herman had  saved the new ones for 'special'. An they will now make a very special quilt.