A travel T-shirt quilt starts before your trip begins. By thinking ahead about what shirts to collect, colors to look for, and how you want the finished quilt to look, you can turn your travels into a cohesive quilt instead of a random collection of souvenirs.
Travel!
Do you have a trip planned? If so, don’t forget to get T-shirts from where you travel. A travel T-shirt quilt can be a daily reminder of the great vacations and adventures of your life.
Each place you visit is an opportunity to acquire another T-shirt. Look around – you will see T-shirts everywhere!
David and I travel in our big red camper van that I like to call The Monster. We built out the inside to be one of the coolest camper vans out there. (In my opinion). I even built in a special storage spot for all the T-shirt I buy while we are out and about.
Where to find T-shirt while traveling:
I have found T-shirts in so many different places.
David has found that if I don't want to go somewhere that he just has to say, "They might have a gift shop."
I am a sucker for T-shirts. I guess I am in the right business!
The T-shirt quilt here is one of my personal quilts. The T-shirts came from many different trips. I love this quilt so much that I have it hanging in the shop.
On a Budget?
Here are some places to look for T-shirts that are not aimed at tourists. This means you will not have to pay tourist prices!
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Walmart – New T-shirts that are not usually as expensive as in tourist locations.
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Goodwill – Used T-shirts with generally a good selection in one spot within the store.
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Thrift shops – Used T-shirts. Depending on the store, they may be more or less expensive than Goodwill. The T-shirts might not be in one spot in the store, so it takes more time to find them among regular clothing.
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Garage Sales – If you can find them, these will be the least expensive place to find used T-shirts. Although you might have to go to a few sales to find what you want. But if you see a sale that is easy to get to, you might consider checking it out.
- Child's Size T-shirts – You can also purchase a child's size T-shirt. Many times, these will cost less than an adult T-shirt. They will also take up less space in your luggage. Sadly, the disadvantage of a child size T-shirt is that you won't get to wear the T-shirt before you have a quilt made.
Planning a T-shirt quilt?
Here are step-by-step directions for ordering your Too Cool T-shirt quilt.
Which T-shirts to Choose?
So, you are on your trip and looking at T-shirts. Which one do you choose?
Most of my customers just choose the T-shirt they love. They end up with a mix of colored, black, white, and gray T-shirts. This makes for an awesome quilt.
But they are other ways you might think about your choices of T-shirt. For example, on one trip I took, I only purchased black T-shirts.
It was more difficult to find that perfect T-shirt because I had limited myself to just black T-shirts. But I had a plan, so I stuck to purchasing only black T-shirts.
My plan was to make a stained-glass style T-shirt quilt from just black T-shirts.
I love how this quilt turned out. I used teal fabric for the thin leading between the blocks. The inspiration for the teal came from the T-shirt in the bottom right corner.
I am thinking that my next travel quilt might be from T-shirts from one color family. Such as blues or reds. This would limit my choice of T-shirts, but it might make a cool T-shirt quilt.
Here's that quilt!
Where to Use your T-shirt Quilt
Where or how you choose to use your quilt will determine how many T-shirts you need to collect. Basically, the larger the quilt, the more T-shirt quilt will need. Read more about how many T-shirts you will need here.
If you want a large quilt, you should look for T-shirts with large graphics. When cut, these T-shirts will make larger blocks. You will need fewer T-shirts if the graphics are large.
If you want a larger quilt and are short on T-shirts, you have a few options. One, take another trip. I would vote for this option! Two, add a border to make the quilt larger. Or three, add blank blocks to increase the size of your quilt.
Conclusion
1. Travel
2. Collect T-shirts
3. Have a T-shirt quilt made.
If you are ready to have a quilt made from your T-shirts, here's how.
Below Are Travel T-shirt Quilts In Use
If you use your quilt on your bed, you can sleep under your memories. And it just looks good too.
Want to learn more about T-shirt quilts? Visit our Learning Center.
We have over 200 articles about all aspects of T-shirt quilts.
Here are quilts being used in a camper with a slide-out and a camper van.
