Many parents want to wait on their son or daughter’s high school graduation T-shirt quilt until they know what school their child will be attending in the fall so they can put a T-shirt from that school in the quilt.
Should you put a T-shirt from the college your son or daughter plans to go to in his or her high school gradation T-shirt quilt? Here are two perspectives.
No, Don't Included the College T-shirt
We typically suggest that parents not put a college T-shirt in their high school graduate’s T-shirt quilt for the following reasons:
Where a person begins college and when they end college are not always the same place.
I don’t know the true statistics, but in my family it was 50/50. One of my brothers and my sister started and graduated in the same place. My other brother and I each attended three different colleges before we found the right fit.
You know your child best. Do you think that they will complete all four years at the same college? If there is any reason you think not, then don’t put the college they begin at, in their high school quilt. It might be regretted down the line.- A T-shirt quilt tells a story. But stories typically are about the past. Trying to predict the future and reflect that in your child’s quilt is not what this quilt is about. This quilt is about life up until graduation. I would suggest keeping the story true to the events.
- Color. If your child’s school colors were red, white and black and they choose to go to a school with green and white school colors, this one green T-shirt just might not fit.
Look at the two quilts here – the first is all red, white and black. It looks great.
The other red, white and black quilt has one green block in it. This block sticks out and draws a lot of attention to itself. If all of your child’s T-shirts were monochromatic, adding one block of a different color would make that block stick out.
- Don't include the college T-shirt if the quilt will not be going to college with your child. This is especially true if you have a son.
We have found that 80% of the quilts we make for a young man to take to college are actually not taken to college. If the quilt is not going to college, the decision to not put in the college specific T-shirts is not as much of an issue. Click here to read an article, written by a college student, about deciding if a quilt should go to college or not.
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Yes, Include It
You know your child best. If you are 100% sure that they will be beginning and ending school at the same college or university, then you might decided to use a T-shirt from that college in his or her quilt.
Another Option
Rather than risking putting a college T-shirt into your child’s highs school T-shirt quilt, I would suggest making a T-shirt pillow from a few T-shirts from the chosen college or university.
When you know where your child is going to school, collect 1 to 6 T-shirts from that school. Depending on where you live relative to the school, you can find T-shirts at garage sales, Goodwill or online.
Send us your T-shirts a month or so before you child heads off to school. We can take those college T-shirts and make a great pillow.
You can give your son or daughter the pillow when you drop him or her off at the dorms. Having a piece of school related bling on their bed will help them feel connected to their school and show off their school spirit.
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