Nice to see you back, Steve. I’ve missed your frequently witty comments. Have you ever done a memory quilt with covers of books you’ve liked? I’d love to see one.
Yes! People do those literary quilts. You might have inspired me to see if I can find a legally usable photo one and post it. But have to admit the idea might work better for books for kids (who might love seeing their favorite characters on a quilt) than for adults fond of, say, “American Psycho” or “The Silence of the Lambs”
Good question! Not sure, but you see a lot of book covers on T-shirts and tote bags, so there must be a process for transferring one. Or you could cut a square from a T-shirt and apply it directly to a fabric backing if you could find the right cover.
Jan, thanks (calibrating where “frequently” falls on the spectrum …). Simple answer: No. But, seriously … seriously? Literally, the covers of books? I’m not familiar with that, but it sounds a bit more like an application of basket-weaving than quilting. Then again, I haven’t been to a crafts show in forty years so I’m completely out of touch with that world.
What a wonderful visual history! When I was running back in the late 70s and 80s I was going to make my own quilt of all my running Ts. But that idea flew out the window. Sure wish I had at least saved the shirts!!
Yeah, that’s the thing if you’re not a native sentimental and don’t express that gene for “I might regret throwing this out someday.” Thanks for note, motivates me to get on with the stories!
I truly love this quilt! (And the Fixx's one-thing-leads-to another ear worm has been successfully activated.) I have two stacks of t-shirts destined to end up in just this type of quilt. I'm glad you shared the name of the makers since I'm not sure I have the skill to do this properly. Also, love the band tees!
Thanks a lot, Cynthia. As much as I enjoyed working with Memory Stitch, if you're really serious about the meaning you want to impart from your pieces --- well, let me say in my case it was a lot more conscientious work than how easy they make it seem. For one thing for this size of quilt (bit larger than a king) you're working with 15" squares (approx), and they request at least two inches more on the top (or some amount of overage). So before I decided on which tshirts I was willing to sacrifice (and that's a whole nother aspect), I had to carefully measure and basically mock-up the whole thing before I very tentatively started cutting. But I enjoyed it and glad I did it.
Cynthia, I have to laugh … so the Memory Stitch folks give you the option to just send your full shirts to them and they’ll cut and size (or size and cut, since they’re pros). I don’t recall the additional price involved, it might have been a multiple of the stitching. But I’m so about control that I wanted to make sure that the parts I wanted to show, showed. In the next part I might show my mockup …. but looking back, yeah, I probably over-committed to the process.
I can understand wanting that control. If I'm going to cut up, or have my t-shirts cut up, I want to be sure the result is what I want. I may give it a try...I have many years' experience sewing so that isn't the issue, but rather the scale of the project. I'd enjoy seeing the mock-up you made.
Okay, Cynthia, just for you … I’ll address the whole mock-up thing in a separate Part. But two things: 1) the full “mockup” is digital; and 2) this might be a case of burying the lede since I was going to address it later in case somebody asked, but I paid to ship the bundle of cut shirts to memory stitch, and then paid them $108 for the actual quilt (after a $51 discount for their Thanksgiving promotion) plus $3.35 for “Route Pkg Protection” for the free ground shipping back to me. Just a data point to consider in how much you value your time … ;)
I'll certainly be interested in seeing your layout. The price is a very good one, even without the discount. I'll see what I have and how I feel about embarking on that project or sending off to be done.
Well, first of all, Steve, welcome back. We've missed your voice around here. I've saved you a spot at the table. Next... "Memory Quilt," what a fantastic name. I suppose I'd seen a reference to this MemoryStitch site somewhere, but what a great way to celebrate the idea.
I've been thinking about stitching my own memory quilt when I stumbled upon a fantastic quilt show, “Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California” at the Berkeley Art Museum (BAMPFA). It's a historical retrospective of quilts as storytelling devices for African-American women during the Great Migration in the post-Reconstruction era. You can learn more about the show here. (https://news.artnet.com/art-world/bampfa-quilts-routed-west-2692097) The show is wrapping up here today, and I've heard a rumor that it's headed to New York. I'm sure it will be on the road. This is part of a massive collection now at BAMPFA so we'll soon see more from their collection. I can't recommend it enough.
I expect to be talking more about quilts as storytelling devices in 2026. I have none of my family's Quaker quilt collection, though I know many of you have them. Then, of course, there's my own nerdy tee collection. Not exactly Arrowsmith, but hey, the graveyard of tech startups still retains a little nerd-cred. 🤘
Barbara, thanks for the nice welcome back. My former mother-in-law was an accomplished quilter and presented several at some large shows, so I should credit her. I also think it's important to consider the representational or symbolic forms to express "stories," even when they 'merely' refresh old memories. Look forward to your coming stories.
Nice to see you back, Steve. I’ve missed your frequently witty comments. Have you ever done a memory quilt with covers of books you’ve liked? I’d love to see one.
Yes! People do those literary quilts. You might have inspired me to see if I can find a legally usable photo one and post it. But have to admit the idea might work better for books for kids (who might love seeing their favorite characters on a quilt) than for adults fond of, say, “American Psycho” or “The Silence of the Lambs”
So how does a book cover get clothified in order to become quiltified? Seriously, what's the transfer process?
Good question! Not sure, but you see a lot of book covers on T-shirts and tote bags, so there must be a process for transferring one. Or you could cut a square from a T-shirt and apply it directly to a fabric backing if you could find the right cover.
Jan, thanks (calibrating where “frequently” falls on the spectrum …). Simple answer: No. But, seriously … seriously? Literally, the covers of books? I’m not familiar with that, but it sounds a bit more like an application of basket-weaving than quilting. Then again, I haven’t been to a crafts show in forty years so I’m completely out of touch with that world.
What a wonderful visual history! When I was running back in the late 70s and 80s I was going to make my own quilt of all my running Ts. But that idea flew out the window. Sure wish I had at least saved the shirts!!
Yeah, that’s the thing if you’re not a native sentimental and don’t express that gene for “I might regret throwing this out someday.” Thanks for note, motivates me to get on with the stories!
I truly love this quilt! (And the Fixx's one-thing-leads-to another ear worm has been successfully activated.) I have two stacks of t-shirts destined to end up in just this type of quilt. I'm glad you shared the name of the makers since I'm not sure I have the skill to do this properly. Also, love the band tees!
Thanks a lot, Cynthia. As much as I enjoyed working with Memory Stitch, if you're really serious about the meaning you want to impart from your pieces --- well, let me say in my case it was a lot more conscientious work than how easy they make it seem. For one thing for this size of quilt (bit larger than a king) you're working with 15" squares (approx), and they request at least two inches more on the top (or some amount of overage). So before I decided on which tshirts I was willing to sacrifice (and that's a whole nother aspect), I had to carefully measure and basically mock-up the whole thing before I very tentatively started cutting. But I enjoyed it and glad I did it.
Thank you for the tips. I think that probably if I'm going to measure, cut, and layout the project, I would go ahead and sew it myself.
Cynthia, I have to laugh … so the Memory Stitch folks give you the option to just send your full shirts to them and they’ll cut and size (or size and cut, since they’re pros). I don’t recall the additional price involved, it might have been a multiple of the stitching. But I’m so about control that I wanted to make sure that the parts I wanted to show, showed. In the next part I might show my mockup …. but looking back, yeah, I probably over-committed to the process.
I can understand wanting that control. If I'm going to cut up, or have my t-shirts cut up, I want to be sure the result is what I want. I may give it a try...I have many years' experience sewing so that isn't the issue, but rather the scale of the project. I'd enjoy seeing the mock-up you made.
Okay, Cynthia, just for you … I’ll address the whole mock-up thing in a separate Part. But two things: 1) the full “mockup” is digital; and 2) this might be a case of burying the lede since I was going to address it later in case somebody asked, but I paid to ship the bundle of cut shirts to memory stitch, and then paid them $108 for the actual quilt (after a $51 discount for their Thanksgiving promotion) plus $3.35 for “Route Pkg Protection” for the free ground shipping back to me. Just a data point to consider in how much you value your time … ;)
I'll certainly be interested in seeing your layout. The price is a very good one, even without the discount. I'll see what I have and how I feel about embarking on that project or sending off to be done.
Well, first of all, Steve, welcome back. We've missed your voice around here. I've saved you a spot at the table. Next... "Memory Quilt," what a fantastic name. I suppose I'd seen a reference to this MemoryStitch site somewhere, but what a great way to celebrate the idea.
I've been thinking about stitching my own memory quilt when I stumbled upon a fantastic quilt show, “Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California” at the Berkeley Art Museum (BAMPFA). It's a historical retrospective of quilts as storytelling devices for African-American women during the Great Migration in the post-Reconstruction era. You can learn more about the show here. (https://news.artnet.com/art-world/bampfa-quilts-routed-west-2692097) The show is wrapping up here today, and I've heard a rumor that it's headed to New York. I'm sure it will be on the road. This is part of a massive collection now at BAMPFA so we'll soon see more from their collection. I can't recommend it enough.
I expect to be talking more about quilts as storytelling devices in 2026. I have none of my family's Quaker quilt collection, though I know many of you have them. Then, of course, there's my own nerdy tee collection. Not exactly Arrowsmith, but hey, the graveyard of tech startups still retains a little nerd-cred. 🤘
Barbara, thanks for the nice welcome back. My former mother-in-law was an accomplished quilter and presented several at some large shows, so I should credit her. I also think it's important to consider the representational or symbolic forms to express "stories," even when they 'merely' refresh old memories. Look forward to your coming stories.
Well, EXACTLY! Clearly you get it.
Stay tuned.