Old Shirt Quilt

I can't think of a better name for this quilt right now, though it doesn't sound very appealing.  I finished this quilt today (minus the binding) after working on it sporadically for about a year and a half.  I am so happy to be done with it.  It is a gift for someone special who doesn't read blogs, so I think it is safe to share it with you.

The hexagons in this quilt are all made from men's shirts that I collected and cut up into 2-1/2" strips.  A few were my husband's dress shirts that he no longer wore, and some I bought at yard sales.  I refused to pay more than $1 per shirt.  I tried to collect a variety of colors, stripes, and plaids.  If you are thinking this sounds like a good idea that you'd like to try yourself, please be warned that it is a lot of work washing, ironing, cutting up shirts.  Opening up a jelly roll of fabric is much easier!!!

This is actually the second quilt that I made from these fabrics.  I made one for my dad (you'll see a picture of that below) with all the same fabrics and had enough left over for a second quilt.

The pattern that I used is called "Caught in a Web" from the book Sizzlin' Sixties by Heather Mulder Peterson of Anka's Treasures.  I also used the Creative Grids 60 degree double strip ruler.  Because I didn't use actually jelly roll strips that are 40"-42" long, I had to do a lot of little piecing of different length strips to make those triangles.  I quilted it on my Innova longarm machine using the pantograph "Spring Thing."

The back is pieced with some flannel and also a print from Alexander Henry called "The Great Outdoors" which I found at the Little Foot Quilt Shoppe.  The person receiving this quilt recently said he would like a hunting themed quilt.  I started piecing this so long ago that I wasn't going to change the front, but I thought maybe I could incorporate some hunting type fabric print on the back.  This was the best thing I could come up with.  I think a single guy with a good sense of humor will appreciate it.

The binding for the quilt is going to be the dark blue fabric used in the inner border.  I'll be working on that tonight.

Below is the quilt I made for my dad back in 2011.  The pattern is from the same Sizzlin' Sixties book, "Oh My Stars," which is on the cover of the book.  I didn't have the longarm back then, so I free motion quilted it on my Janome.  I love this pattern and actually have fabric to make another one.

It feels really good to finally have this quilt completed.  As much as I really like it, I can't wait to work on a different quilt project with NO HEXAGONS and pretty girly colors!!!

Have you finished anything up this week?  I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish It Up Friday.  I wish you all a Happy New Year filled with lots of creative sewing.  Thanks for stopping by!