Another Quilt with Lots of Meaning AKA Brick Quilt Part 1

I have a confession to make. I'm not a quilter. I only pretend to be because it gives me opportunities to make beautiful and memorable gifts. Like the time I cut up my bridesmaids dress to make my best friend the most amazing quilt.

 

Or twice that I've cut up my kids' first year of clothes to make them a blanket. But as I thought about this blog and took pictures for the next tutorial, I thought, does quilting really have to be about skill? Do you really have to know all the terms and techniques to make a really cute blanket? I have came to the conclusion that no, no you do not. I make memories. I make blankets that help the receiver hang on to the last few memories of one special day, year, or person. So, now that we've established that I might be a quilter, lets move on...just know, you probably aren't getting the right terms and there is most likely a tutorial out there better suited for you, but these are my blankets and I love them.

So my sister's grandpa passed away a few months ago (don't ask how he isn't also my grandpa, it's a really long story). She approached me shortly after to see if I could make a quilt out of his old button up shirts and jeans. Knowing that I love to make these types of quilts, I said yes. Then they got here and I kind of freaked out a little bit. If I mess this up, I have no way to replace these shirts. And then I thought, I can't just do the regular old squares and stitch them together. This quilt has to be epic because I'm a little crazy like that and think I can do awesome things.

So I started with this pile of shirts. Irreplaceable button up shirts. That still smell like her grandpa's closet. And I researched quilt patterns. Lets keep in mind that I'm not really a quilter. I can't do all those fancy things. I finally decided a brick quilt would be easy and different from the traditional squares I usually do.

I started by cutting along all the seams. So I ended up with the back piece, two front pieces and two sleeves. I got rid of all the collars and pleats.

Then I squared all my pieces up. It was really nice because I had lines to follow. Cut off cuffs and buttons and any area that is thicker.

 

 Then I started cutting the bricks. I cut them 4.5x7.5. I also preserved the pockets by cutting them 7.5 by 9 so they were the same as two bricks. Make sense?

I ended up with 138 bricks. Some shirts I got more and some a little less. The average amount of bricks was 23 from each shirt.

 

Stay tuned for assembly and to see if this quilt turns out the way I'm imagining.