The First Cut!

Ok. So, I've been talking about making this quilt out of some old t-shirts for quite some time now.  I've definitely had a large black garbage bag, that I keep stuffing more shirts into, for at least a year now (and sometimes saving shirts from the bag and quietly incorporating them back into wardrobe rotation), but I've probably been blabbing about it for much longer. I do that - talk about things too much before actually doing them.

But tonight! Tonight was a big night! First, I made it out to Fabricland (FABRICLAND!) to purchase sashing fabric, backing fabric, and some handy fusible interfacing, to help keep my t-shirts from being too stretchy. I opted not to get batting for in between my layers. I might regret this later, but the backing fabric I chose (a cozy, bright red, fleece) seems to be hefty enough... I had a hard time picking my fabrics, since my t-shirt collection is on the rather loud side of things. Finding something that would 'match' proved to be futile, so I grabbed something that I hope will at least be inoffensive. We'll see.

Once I got home, I procrastinated a bit more, and then pulled my garbage bag out of the closet, and chose my first victim! I didn't think I'd have a hard time cutting this shirt up, but I did. Strange.

Here it is! A cute, baby blue t-shirt brought back from a trip my parents took to Newfoundland, for one of my moms cake decorating conferences. It was more an around-the-house kind of shirt, and was well loved...but definitely doesn't hold the same sentimental attachments as some of the other shirts in the bag. Maybe they'll be the last ones cut.

Some things I learned today about cutting fabric and quilting:
1. I really need to buy a rotary cutter, because all my cuts are jagged and uneven
2. The process of tying my quilt looks like it's going to be a huge pain in the ass.