Ok, Part 2 of this epic saga.  Click for Part 1.

So there I was, in this tiny little condo, t-shirts carpeting the carpeting, sorting out my strategy.

My first task would be to get measurements of all the t-shirt designs.  I got out my trusty graph paper & pencil, and a ruler.  I logged a description of each shirt (that was interesting when I got to the multitude of KISS shirts) and the design size.  Some of the shirts had a front and a back, and I wanted to use everything I could, so I also logged those few back designs.

I was starting to formulate a plan in my head, so i transferred my measurements into a spreadsheet (Excel, if you must know, and I’m not proud of it).  To make this work, there had to be some sort of standardization with the block sizes, so here are the formulas I worked through:

• Entered actual design size, WxH, in inches, separate columns for front (W, H), back (W, H) and sleeve/pocket (W, H) – 6 columns in all
• Converted inches to feet (in retrospect, not exactly sure why I did this, except it may have made the formulas for the next step much simpler) (in no way shape or form am I admitting how much of a computer nerd I can be)
• Standardized design sizes to next largest increment of 1′, 1’3″, 1’6″, 2″, 2″3″.  Not sure how I ended up without any 1’9″, but probably just as well.  This calculation also added seam allowances, and I can’t quite figure out how my formula for that worked, but ultimately whatever it was that I did, it did what it was supposed to.  As I recall, I used a 1″ seam allowance for each side, knowing by now that I’d be working with some really weird issues & wanted a bit of wiggle room if necessary; I also wanted enough room to mend any blowouts since I was making this to be a used quilt, not a show quilt
• Converted everything back to inches (hmmm…) for the actual cutting

Once I got that all sorted out, it was time to start cutting.  I had put away the shirts while figuring out the calculations, so now I had to pull them out again.

Armed with my measurements, I got out my trusty cutting mat and rotary cutter, and started cutting.  With the adjusted measurements at hand, I cut the neck ribbing and sleeves off each shirt, being careful when the design came close to either.  I cut the shirt sides off, centering the design for the measurements I needed, then cut the top & bottoms off each shirt, again centering the design.

I had a vague thought of keeping the fronts and backs together during construction, so I kept the fronts with the backs for the time being.  The remnants went into a bag that I can’t find any more (we’ve moved since then – more on that later).

My next step was to fit the pieces together.  You might have thought I should have done this before cutting the t-shirts, but my logic at that point revolved around knowing I would be adding small extra blocks of those alternate fabrics I mentioned before, which gave me a certain amount of flexibility, plus I knew that I had standardized block sizes, so I felt certain that I would be able to fit it all together.

First, I drew out each block on my graph paper.  I labeled them and cut them out, then started moving them around on another piece of graph paper.  I probably fiddled around with this off and on over the course of a month or two, with the shirts once again put away.  I added the few extra blocks I thought I would need, but I also found that since I had sort of winged it with my graph paper measurements, I wasn’t quite getting the layout I knew I needed.

So, I set that aside in favor of something fun: purchasing all the extra fabrics!  I found most of the extras here.  I also found a few slippery things at my local Hancock Fabrics, Joann’s, etc. You must admit, you wouldn’t find most of these fabrics at your LQS:

• Liquid Lame in silver/grey; working with this was like trying to herd cats
• Flame Fur in red, I believe, hideous to work with
• Velour I think I got some of this, but more on that later
• Wave Velveteen which is stiff and also hideous to work with, but I’m glad I used it
• Fishnet I got this in pink, and I think in either black or white, planning to layer it over something else, but more on that later

I also thought about using some vinyl, but couldn’t quite bring myself to go that far.

Ok, so I had all the extra fabrics.  The layout method wasn’t working well; I was using 4 graph paper squares to equal a foot, so it was tough to accurately cut the 3″ and 6″ parts.

In the meantime, my younger son had decided to go live with his dad, and DH and I had decided to relocate several states over, so the condo had to be in pristine condition 24/7.

The t-shirt went on hiatus for about 6 months.

Click here for post-hiatus wrap-up.

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