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Many times we get asked if we can make a memorial quilt for someone who has died using their shirts.  Often, these shirts are not t-shirts with nice graphics, but they are usually dress shirts, polo shirts, boxing shorts (yes, this is true) or other items that are meaningful.

Our answer, is usually yes….. we have no problems incorporating many items into these quilts, however some of the plain shirts do not make the quilt very appealing to the average person.  Because of this, we have come up with a style that blends some of the plainer items a little better into the quilt. 

Our new Frame II quilt does just this.  We have taken the block down to a 9″ size.  This serves 3 purposes.  The first is addressing the problem of having only a few shirts.  Because the blocks are small, many times we can cut 2 or 3 blocks out of one item.  This allows the quilt to be larger and to meet our minimum requirements on size.

The second reason this 9″ block can be good, is if you have a lot of polo shirts or shirts with graphics on the front chest area.  Because the blocks are smaller, the graphics usually take up more room on the finished block, making it more appealing.  There are occasions where there will be an extra centering charge for these blocks, but many time we can cut the 9″ straight from the shirt without any extra centering.

The third reason, these small pieces of plainer shirts, just look better.  Many times we’ve done our traditional style with a 15″ block with solid shirts, however, sometimes the plain 15 inches is just too much to plain to make the quilt appealing.  The 9″ Frame II style just seems to look better with these types of shirts.

So in conclusion, if you have shirts that are on the plainer side and just don’t know how to use them, this new Frame II style might be the answer.  

A side note:  This style also is good if you have a lot of toddler sized shirts.  We do not take onesies or baby clothes, but with this size, we now accept toddler shirts if used in this style quilt.