Scouting T-shirt and Clothing Quilts

If you have a scout, be it Girl Scout, Boy Scout or any other type of scout, you will probably have accumulated all sorts of scouting related items. These may be just a little too important to donate or pass onto another scout.

If your son or daughter stayed with scouting until high school graduation, they probably will have accumulated even more items.

So, what can you do with these items?

3 Options for Including Scout Items In a Quilt:

1. Make a Quilt

If your son or daughter has a great deal of items and felt that scouting was a great influence on their life, an all scouting quilt would be a great option. You can use T-shirts, uniforms, patches, scarves, pillowcases and whatever else you may have collected over the years.  You can use anything in this quilt that is machine washable.

For a quilt, you would typically need 15 or more items. The more items, the larger the quilt can be. We also have the ability of taking any number of items and making your quilt larger or smaller by the amount we use from each item.

For example, if you have 40 items and want a small quilt, we would only use small pieces from each item.  But that same 40 items can be made into a much larger quilt by using large blocks from each item and/or more than one block from each item.

2. Make a Pillow

A pillow is a size step down from a quilt. If scouting was a part of growing up, but not their entire existence, then a pillow might be a better choice.

For a pillow, you could use 3 to 10 items. The fewer items you have for the pillow would mean that we would use more than one block from each item.

3. Scout Items Mixed in With a Graduation Quilt

If you only have a few items and scouting was a small part of growing up, a few scout items mixed into a typical high school graduation T-shirt quilt probably will be enough.  Items to consider would be T-shirts, a scarf, a vest or a uniform top.

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

What items can be used in a scouting quilt or pillow?

Scarves

There are a number of ways we can include a bandana type scarf in a quilt. We can use just a corner of the scarf. This can be mounted onto another piece of material at right angles to the material or set on point. We can also fold the scarf so it mimics how it would have looked when worn. 

Uniform

Typically, we use the troop numbers from the sleeve, the American flag patch, each pocket independently or together.

T-shirts

We will use whatever is on each side of the shirt. If you don’t want something used, here are the instructions for how to tell us not to use part of a shirt.

Patches

Many times, scouting patches are sewn onto a sash or vest. The sash or vest can be incorporated into the quilt showing all the patches (see below). We also can use loose patches and sew them onto individual blocks. This is a way to make the patches go further than if they were on a sash.  Read more about patches here.

Lanyards

These can be used in their entirety. We set up a block with a hanging loop so the lanyard can be attached and then removed for laundering.

Caps & Hats

We will take the logo off the cap and apply it like we would a patch.

Or we can hang a very special cap like it's shown in the photo.  This way you can remove the cap to wash the quilt. 
Read more about using caps and hats here.

Vests & Sashes

These can be used. We typically will cut a vest into three sections – back and front, right and left. We will make a block from each of these pieces.

We will sew a sash onto a block so it retains its recognizable shape. If there are patches on the front and back of the sash, generally, we will cut the sash into two sections and put each section on its own individual piece.

Socks

If the sock is small and in good shape, we might choose to use the entire sock. If not, we would just use the top section with any logo on it. We avoid using the feet of well worn socks.

Skirts & Pants

We will cut a representative section from these items. If there is a distinguishing feature on the item, we would use that. For example, a pocket or a pleat would be used. 

If you have any questions about what else we might be able to use in your quilt, please feel free to e-mail us your questions.

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