I have been making high school graduation quilts since 1995. This was well before my daughter even started kindergarten. In the intervening years, including my daughter’s high school and college graduations, I have learned a thing or two about having a graduation T-shirt quilt made.
The photograph here is Milie with her high school graduation T-shirt quilt.
Table of Contents:
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Should the Quilt be Made to Fit an Extra Long Twin-size Mattress?
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Should a Baby Blanket Go in a High School Graduation T-shirt Quilt?
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Include a College T-shirt in a High School Graduation T-shirt Quilt?
Planning a Graduation T-shirt Quilt in 4 Steps
1. Find the T-shirts
Begin by gathering the T-shirts and see if you have all the ones you want. If you find that some of the T-shirts are missing, start looking for those T-shirts - now. You might find them stuffed under the bed or somewhere else a teenager might stash their stuff.
If you are missing a particular T-shirt and don’t want to advertise that you are making them a T-shirt quilt, you might say, “I haven’t seen you wearing your _______T-shirt recently.” This might lead into a conversation that it’s gone missing, it’s at someone’s house or that it’s just a lame T-shirt. Here’s an article about if you should talk to your child about their quilt or not.
Places to find missing T-shirts: school, coach, neighbor, younger sibling’s dresser drawers, Goodwill, or the school’s lost and found.
2. Find a T-shirt Quilt Maker
Finding the right T-shirt quilt maker takes a bit of research, especially if you want the quilt to look and feel exactly as you envision. Before asking your aunt’s neighbor’s friend’s cousin to take it on, clarify what you want, when you need it, and your budget. Here are three key points to consider as you search for the ideal quilt maker.
- Know what style of T-shirt quilt you want. There are 6 typical styles to choose from. Here's an article about the different styles.
6 Styles of T-shirt quilt 
Decide on your budget and then double it. Typically an inexpensive quilt will be a poorly made, low quality quilt.
How much does a T-shirt quilt cost?- The quilter’s time frame. Some quilter’s schedules fill up very fast in the spring. Other quilters might think they can get your quilt finished on time, but are not set up to make as many quilts as they have promised.
One of the first questions you should ask a quilter is, “Can you realistically complete my quilt by the date I need it back by?” The earlier your graduation date or open house, the sooner you need to get your T-shirts to your quilter. - How to find a quilter. Here are some article that will help you know what you need to do to find a great T-shirt quilt maker. We here at Too Cool T-shirt Quilts would be delighted to make a quilt for you!
How to Find a T-shirt Quilt Maker
Local T-shirt Quilt Makers vs Nationally Known?
3. Mark Your T-shirts According to Your Quilt Maker's Directions
After you have settled on a quilter, the next step is to prepare your T-shirts according to that company’s directions. Every quilt maker has different directions. Spend time on that quilter’s website reviewing how they want the T-shirts prepared. Here's how to prepare your T-shirts for Too Cool T-shirt Quilts.
4. Ship or Deliver Your T-shirts to Your Quilt Maker
You need to plan to have all your T-shirts sent to your quilter by late February or very early March. The exact timing will depend on your quilter’s schedule and when your graduation or open house is. The earlier your graduation date or open house, the sooner you need to get your T-shirts to your quilter.
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Planning a T-shirt quilt?
Here are step-by-step directions for ordering your Too Cool T-shirt quilt.
Typical Timeline for Graduation T-shirt Quilts
Early January – Begin Gathering T-shirts
Once your child returns to school from winter vacation, pull out their T-shirts and see what you have. If you are missing anything, start looking around for those T-shirts now. You might find them under the bed or somewhere else a teenager might choose to keep their belongings.
End of January – Line Up Your T-shirt Quilt Maker
This is the time to have a T-shirt quilt maker lined up to make your quilt.
Finding a great T-shirt quilt maker will take some research on your part. Don’t just settle for a friend or your neighbors’ friend without first doing your research! Here are a number of articles that address how to find the right T-shirt Quilt maker for your circumstance:
How to Find a T-shirt Quilt Maker
T-Shirt Quilt Makers Near Me: Why National Companies Outshine Local Options
How Much Does a T-shirt Quilt Cost?
Early February – Decide Which T-shirts Will Go into the Quilt
Decide which T-shirts will go into the quilt. The decision will be based on a number of items:
- How many T-shirts you have.
- How large of quilt you want and want to afford. Too Cool T-shirt Quilts Pricing Page
- How the quilt will be used.
- Your quilt maker and they style of quilt they plan to make. 6 Styles of T-shirt Quilts
- The sizes of images on the T-shirts and if the T-shirts are one or two-sided How many T-shirts are needed for a T-shirt Quilt?
Very Early March – Have All Your T-shirts Sent to Your Quilter
You need to plan to have all your T-shirts sent to your quilter at this time. The exact timing will depend on your quilter’s schedule and when your graduation or open house is.
Some graduations are in early May and others in late June. The earlier your graduation date or open house, the sooner you need to get your T-shirts to your quilter.
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Should You Tell Your Graduate About Their T-shirt Quilt?
One issue a lot of parents have is if they should tell their child about the quilt. Experience says that it won’t hurt to clue them in. Most kids know what a T-shirt quilt is and many actually are expecting to get one for graduation. Below are reasons to and reasons not to tell your child about his or her T-shirt quilt.
Yes!!! Reasons to Talk Before Having a Quilt Made
You may end up with more T-shirts than you could otherwise get by “stealing” them out of the wash.- Your graduate may have a T-shirt that he/she hates and you might not know it. If we put that T-shirt in the quilt we will have a bad situation.
Once a T-shirt is in the quilt, it is in the quilt to stay. There is no removing a T-shirt after the quilt is made. Choose carefully. - Your graduate might have color preferences for the backing and the binding other than school colors.
- They maybe expecting a T-shirt quilt and want input on the style and quality of the quilt.
No! Reasons Not to Tell Your Graduate About Their Quilt
Surprise factor - and it is a great surprise.- You have been collecting T-shirts for years and you have enough variety to make a graduation quilt the size you would like.
- You know the color preferences of your graduate and feel confident that you know what color they would like on the back of the quilt.
- Your child is oblivious to things like clothing, style, color, and design.
Ultimately, you know your child and his or her preferences. If you have to error, I would suggest erring by telling them about the quilt rather than keeping it a secret.
Just Hint About the Quilt Ahead of Time
If you would like to talk about the quilt ahead of time and still keep it a surprise, you could tell your child that you would like to do something with their T-shirts, and ask for their input about which T-shirts and what colors they likes.
This will probably give them enough information so that they will know that a T-shirt quilt is on the way.
But not all T-shirts quilts are the same. If you have a Too Cool T-shirt Quilt made, it will be so different than the traditional T-shirt quilts their friends are getting, that it will be even better than a surprise!
Take Away
Ultimately, you know your child and his or her preferences. If you have to error, I would suggest erring by telling them about the quilt rather than keeping it a secret.
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What Can You Use In a Graduation T-shirt Quilt?
You can consider using more than just T-shirts. Here are some of the more unique items that can be included in a Too Cool T-shirt quilt. Note, some items come with warnings.
Clothing
You can use more than just T-shirts in a T-shirt quilt. You can also use sweatshirts, blue jeans and other clothing that was a favorite of your graduate. It is best if the clothing you choose is machine washable. Explore more about incorporating different types of clothing into your T-shirt quilt by clicking here.
Stuffed Animals and Plush Toys
We can use these. Just make sure your graduate would like these in their quilt.
We can either permanently attach the plush to the quilt. To do this we will destuff parts of the toy to make it less bulky and easier to sew onto the quilt.
The other method is to make it removable. We add a snap to the toy and the quilt. Then the stuffy can snap on and off at will.
PJs
We can add a block of fabric from your child's pajamas to their quilt. We have even made quilts from all PJs.
The consideration with PJ's is how worn they are. We will do magic to make sure they don't fall apart. But. if they are thread bear now, eventually you might see more of the backer block than the original block. We will look for the least worn part of the item to include.
Bathrobes
Yes, we can use a block from a bathrobe. The main consideration with a bathrobe is how thick it is. If we use a pocket from a terrycloth robe, those two layers of fabric will be thicker than the surrounding material and will be noticeable.
If you want to send a in a bathrobe, you don't have to send the entire robe. You can just send us a large chunk. This will save you a lot of box space.
Bags and Coats
In some sports, participants are given a team bag and or a coat. Don’t disregard them because we can include them in your quilt.
If the bag or coat is machine washable, you can use it.
Towels
Team towels or towels given out as awards can be used in your quilt too! Be sure that they have been washed at least once before you put them in your quilt. Otherwise you will get a ton of fuzzies when you wash the quilt for the first time.
Below is a Steeler's quilt. Do you see the yellow terrible towel down towards the bottom right. That's an example of a towel in a quilt.
Socks
Soccer players many times have team socks that have a knit-in logo on the top of the socks. We can also use those in a quilt. We try to avoid using the foot part!
Varsity Letters
Varsity letters can be used in a T-shirt quilt. But there are several issues with varsity letters.
First, they are stiff. This means they won't fold. If there is a varsity letter in the middle of the quilt, and you try to fold the quilt, the varsity letter will not fold. In the short term this means that the quilt, when folded will have a lump.
In the long term, the stiff edges of the varsity letter may cut the quilt batting and backing. Initially, we centered varsity letters. We quickly realized the folding issues. Now we put them closer to the corners of a quilt. This is the solution to the bending issue. Remember, varsity letters are still stiff and not feel very comfortable.
- Another concern about varsity letters is their washability. Can the letter survive repeated washings without falling apart? I don’t know.
- Lastly, when a varsity letter is washed, will the color of the varsity letter bleed onto the surrounding blocks? I don’t know. Unless you have a varsity letter to test wash, this might be an unknown until the quilt is washed.
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Should the Quilt be Made to Fit an Extra Long Twin-size Mattress for the Dorms?
Our experience says no for the following reasons...
- Kids generally are only in the dorms one or two years. After that time they are left with a very long and skinny quilt. That shape is not very practical for other uses.
- Most kids never make their beds in the dorms - unless they know you are coming for a visit.
- If you have a son, there is about an 80% chance that you will not even let him take his quilt out of the house until he is married. We have been doing this for a long time and over and over Moms think that they will send the quilt to college with their sons and then call us to say that we were right, it is not going to the dorms.
- Some dorms don’t have the longer beds.
If you would like the quilt to fit a long dorm bed and be useful after dorm life, we suggest a quilt that is 80" x 88" (Estimated 35 to 45 T-shirts). This is long enough for a longer bed, but wide enough that it will be usable on other beds in the future.
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Should a Baby Blanket Be Included in a High School Graduation T-shirt Quilt?
When parents gather their children’s T-shirts in preparation to have a high school graduation T-shirt quilt made, we get many questions about what to put in and what to leave out. One of the most frequent questions I am asked is: Should a piece of the child’s baby blanket be included in the quilt?
When I first was asked this question I was like, “are you kidding me?” I soon learned that I had a minority view on baby blankets. My daughter told me that there were kids in the dorm that had their baby blankets under their pillows. Ok, so that surprised me. A lot!
So, should you put a piece of the baby blanket in their high school graduation quilt? That’s up to you. But here are some things to consider:
Current Usage
If the blanket is still being used, I would be careful of taking it away now! It might be more difficult taking it away now than it was when they were 4!
Male or a Female?
If the T-shirt quilt is for a female, I would be more apt to use a piece of the blanket than if the quilt is for a male. But it’s your child; consider how they react to having the blanket in the quilt. Remember, once it’s in the quilt, it's in there to stay.
Is the Quilt Going to College?
Whether a T-shirt quilt will go to college with your child is entirely another discussion.
But if you think the quilt will be going to college, then you might consider not using the blanket because of the potential for embarrassment.
If a Piece of Their Blanket is Included Their Quilt, Will They Refuse to Use It?
We have had experiences with children refusing to use their T-shirt quilt because it had one T-shirt in it that they didn’t like. A piece of baby blanket might garner this same result.
Basically, ask yourself if using a piece of their baby blanket is right for your child.
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Should Your Child Take Their T-shirt Quilt to College?
If you lived in the dorms, you may remember and understand. The bed is the center of most living done in a dorm room. Eating pizza. Drinking beer. Putting on make-up. Rough housing. Shoes on the bed. The list goes on. The chances of something staining a quilt or blanket on the bed are high.
You may want to consider this question before you give your child their quilt. Many Moms make their child a quilt with the intention they takes it to college.
Yet, 95% of the mothers of boys decide not to let them take their quilt out of the house. At least until he is married!
To help figure out if the quilt should go or stay, we’ve compiled arguments for each possibility. This might help you decide if the quilt should go to college, before you give the quilt.
Go Ahead, Take It
It is their quilt with all the good memories that they have from high school.- Their T-shirt quilt is also a piece of home, thus making the transition process of moving away for the first time easier.
- Many dorms have strange heating situations that don’t allow the student to adjust the heat to match their needs. Instead of buying a huge comforter set, all your student will need is their Too Cool T-shirt Quilt. They are the perfect weight for most situation.
- If you trust that your child knows the value of this quilt and will take care of it. They need to understand that it will be with them for the rest of their life.
No Way! Leave It at Home
If they are a boy. I don't want to be sexist, but this is the reality of our experience. - We really don’t know what happens in a college dorm room, and we don’t really want to know. Sometimes you have to take measures to protect your child’s quilt from the unknowns… partying, moldy food, roommates, dirt, and icky stuff.
- Theft, things go missing in dorms. It’s a fact of life.
- Keeping it at home to remind you of your child. A child leaving the nest is hard on the parents. Keeping their quilt at home is like keeping a piece of your child with you.
Maybe? Compromise
Have your child move in to the dorms. Once they gets settled into a routine they will know more. They can gauge the roommate situation and the cleanliness. If it looks good, let them have their quilt to proudly display on their bed. If not, wait another year and see if things change.
- Wait until they move out of the dorms. Many students move out of the dorms after two years and into private apartments, Greek houses or a rented house. At that point if they are paying regular rent and know the value of things it’s a safe bet they will take good care of their quilt.
If all that fails? Keep their quilt at home till they graduate from college. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
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Include a Future College T-shirt in a High School Graduation T-shirt 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 three perspectives.
1. 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.
2. Yes, Include It
You know your child best. If you are 100% sure that they will be begin and end school at the same college or university, then you might decided to use a T-shirt from that college in his or her quilt.
3. 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 one or 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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Conclusion
Planning a graduation T-shirt quilt is so important. From deciding on which T-shirts to include to selecting a size that might works for your graduate, each step can help make the quilt a true reflection of your graduate’s journey. With years of experience making graduation T-shirt quilts, I’ve seen the power of these decisions to create a quilt that’s as unique as your graduate.
We have the experience and expertise to help you along the way.
