All About T-shirt Quilts

50 State Marathon or 1/2 Marathon T-shirt Quilt

Written by Andrea Funk | April 2026

Wow! Congratulation on Your Achievement

Running a marathon is a significant achievement that requires a great deal of training and dedication. For many runners, completing a marathon in every state is the ultimate challenge.

With 50 states in the United States, running a marathon in each state is a monumental feat that requires careful planning, training, and a willingness to push oneself to the limit.

The designs on your T-shirts are not all the same size.


The designs on your race T-shirts come in many different sizes. This was the first thing I noticed about my sister’s T-shirts. It’s why I designed a quilt with different block sizes. A one-size fit’s all is not a solution for a runner’s T-shirts quilt.

A set block size may be too small and cut off part of the design extending beyond the block. Or the block might be too large and leave small designs floating with huge margins. There will be some designs that will fit nicely on the “one size block.” But, all your T-shirts deserve to be cut to their correct size. Read more about different styles of T-shirt quilts here.

A Too Cool T-shirt quilt is different from traditional T-shirt quilts! No cotton sashing. No iron-on interfacing to stiffen up the T-shirts. No one-size fits all blocks.

 

Planning a T-shirt quilt?
Here are step-by-step directions for ordering your Too Cool T-shirt quilt.

 

What can you use in your 50 State Marathon T-shirt quilt?

Spoiler, you can include any machine washable fabrics! Here are some things you might not have considered including.

Microtech Fabric or Tech Fabrics

Tech fabrics are perfect for wicking sweat away from your body while you exercise. They are very soft and feel nice to touch.  Tech fabric is challenging to work with because it is lightweight and stretches more than traditional T-shirt material. It takes accomplished seamstress to sew a block of tech material into a quilt without it being distorted or misshaped.

Although Tech fabrics are lightweight and soft, they are neither wimpy nor delicate.  In fact, Tech material is very tough. In a quilt, it will last as well as, or better than, traditional T-shirt materials. Unlike traditional cotton material, Tech fabrics will not fade overtime. 

Once in a quilt, you have to study the quilt carefully to figure out if a block is traditional T-shirt material or tech material. The difference is the texture.

Race Bibs

Have you ever searched the Internet to figure out what to do with race bib numbers? If so, you have probably run across many different amusing and ridiculous uses. From wrapping gifts to papering your walls, the ideas are out there. 

Consider having a pillow or quilt made with your race bib numbers. That’s right, with the actual Tyvek race number.

Tyvek is incredible stuff! It doesn’t like to rip. It’s machine washable. It gets softer in every wash. So yes, you can use the actual race number in your quilt.

Here are three ways to consider how to use race numbers in a quilt or pillow:

  1. Have a quilt made with just the race bib numbers. The bibs are not sewn directly to one another; rather they are sewn to and “framed” on pieces of T-shirt material.
  1. Use your race numbers and your race T-shirts mixed together. The bib numbers can be backed with materials that match your T-shirts, or just one color family – such as blue. Putting the race numbers on bright colored material will liven up your quilt. 
  1. Mount the race number on its race T-shirt. If you ran the Boston Marathon in 2018, that race bib would be sewn directly onto that particular T-shirt.

Consider the ad on your T-shirts when you are planning a quilt.

Race T-shirts are distinctive in that they are a canvas for advertisement for the events sponsors. Sometimes the ads are mixed with the graphic in on the front of the T-shirt. Other times they are on the back or sleeves of the T-shirt.

We know that you don’t want your quilt to be an advertising tool. Yet some ads cannot be removed from the graphics without ruining them. Experience has taught us to know when to leave the ads and when not to use them. For example, consider a T-shirt with a list of ads on the back and the name of the race is over on top of the list. We can remove the ads while retaining the race information.

If you want the ads used, please tell us! You or your company might be a sponsor of the event. We won’t know unless you tell us.

Conclusion

It’s ok that you have too many T-shirts. You are in great company. It’s what you will do with your T-shirts that counts.

If you are planning a quilt, do your research before you hand over your T-shirts to just anyone. Here are some articles that will help you in your planning.