Jersey Quilt

 

A while back a friend of mine asked me to create a blanket or anything with a collection of jerseys he had from his flag football leagues.  He had attempted to nail them to his wall and a couple of other projects that didn't work out too well.  I decided to take on this project...

 

...but it turned to be a bit more challenging than I thought.  The jersey above is just an example of the pieces I got from him.  I think he may have used a chainsaw to cut up his jerseys!  Just kidding K.  Well, kind of. 

So after trimming the jerseys into the best squares I could.  I knew I wouldn't be able to make even sized squares to make a traditional quilt, so I came up with another idea.  I bought 4 yards of black fleece, two yards for the front and two for the back.  Then I laid out the jersey squares onto the two pieces of fleece.  He had quite a few jerseys, so I filled up both the front and back with them.  After getting the layout I liked, I pinned them in place.

Next I used my sewing machine and sewed around the edge of each of the jersey pieces, sewing them to the fleece using a zig zag stitch.  T-shirts typically don't ravel, so if you use the zig zag stitch right along the edge of your pieces, it will create a neat finish.  Make sure your stitches aren't too tight together or it will jam your machine and take forever.

After you have attached all of your jerseys to your fleece blanket front and back, place your pieces right sides together and pin.  Sew the front and back together all the way around leaving an opening about 6-8 inches wide.  Turn the blanket right sides out.  Sew all the way around your blanket about 1/2 of an inch away from the edge.  This will close up your hole and give you a finished look on your jersey quilt. 

 

This fleece Jersey quilt is a great way to keep the memories of your teams close.  It would be great for all those running t-shirts you get from 5K's and all your races.  Any shape fabric can be made into a blanket with this technique.  Have those adorable baby clothes you couldn't bear to give away?  Lay them flat on your fleece and sew them into a great keepsake blanket to display or use.  Perfect way to make a quilt out of all those odd shaped memories.