Boy Scouts / Theater Memory Quilt

This quilt tells the stories of 3 separate "eras" of my client's life: many years in Boy Scouts, a love of participating in theater shows during high school and college, and a love for his Alma Mater, Colby College in Maine. My client asked me to keep the shirts grouped together (as much as possible) according to the "era" of his life. He also requested that the design be somewhat chronological, with the Boy Scout shirts (oldest) at the top and going down to the college shirts (newest) at the bottom. I followed these requests to the best of my abilities, taking into account the various sizes of the graphics on the shirts, and arranging the contrasting colors in a way that would be aesthetically pleasing.

The finished size of this quilt is 60 inches wide x 70 inches long.

A total of 14 different colors of shirts were incorporated into this quilt, ranging from calming blues to exciting reds and oranges, with a single "safety green" in the mix. My client didn't have a preference for the color of the backing and binding, so I selected a neutral gray, which the client then approved.

The picture below is the final version of the quilt. The client was thrilled to receive his quilt. I was honored because seeing the finished quilt prompted him to reminisce and share some of his favorite scouting and theater memories with me. I love hearing the fun and special memories that can be contained in a T-shirt! I learned that the troop did a shirt design contest every year - each boy in the troop would present his design idea, and the troop would vote. The winner got their design featured on the troop's new shirt that year. The orange shirt in the upper left corner of the quilt was my client's design, and the artwork was done by his mother, who drew the faces of the boys who were actually in the troop that year!

Some of the shirts included in this quilt had been boxed up for over 10 years; now, this quilt will be proudly on display in his living room, where he can be reminded of those fun memories every day!