One of the things I included on my 30 before 30 list was a t-shirt blanket.  I have seen these floating around Pinterest and thought it was such a cool idea to keep old t-shirts.  One of my favorite things is the feeling of an old t-shirt.  I knew that I would never be able to sew, so I would have to get creative on my methods of creating the blanket.

I started collecting t-shirts from the back of my closet when we did our giant Project Declutter and put them in a separate box.  Then I returned that box to the back of my closet to be dealt with later… like when I became creative or talented.

Then, a miracle happened.  One of my best friends, Annika, made her own 30 before 30 list and she wanted to make a t-shirt quilt.  WHAT?!?!?!?!  How crazy that I have a bunch of t-shirts and an incredibly strong desire for a quilt just like the one she wanted to make.  OK fine, maybe we talked about it and she said she would help me because it would be a good project for her to work on some techniques.  But, I was beyond excited to have a friend that was willing to help me.

She came over one day back in August and I pulled out the box of t-shirts and showed her what we were working with.  We picked out the shirts we were going to use and then a few back-ups.  She helped me understand how we would have to cut them to make them work.

Then she took them and left my house.  I figured we’d make a trip to the fabric store and I’d help with anything she’d let me.  Then we moved.  Annika mentioned a few times that her mom had helped her a little, but she was working on it.  Then one day right around Christmas, we got a text from her asking if our building had a doorman that accepted packages.  And this came… on Annika’s birthday… to our apartment.

That little Minnesota added to the back is my favorite part.  Also, if you’re wondering why those pictures aren’t great quality, it’s because we didn’t take the time to lay it out nice and take out the good camera.  We wrapped ourselves in it immediately and have been fighting over it since.

This, my friends, is an epic gift.  I can easily say that it is the best blanket ever.  We are so grateful that Annika (with a little help from her mom) took so much time and energy and made this for us.  We are in love with it.  I recommend everyone make one of these or find someone awesome enough to do it for you.