A 25-Shirt Commemorative Quilt for the Atlanta Bar Association

When the Atlanta Bar Association reached out about a commission for their annual Legal Runaround 5k, I knew right away this one was going to be special. Twenty-five years of racing. Twenty-five shirts. One quilt to hold all of it. That kind of symmetry does not come along very often, and I was honored to be the one trusted to bring it together.

Twenty-Five Years, Twenty-Five Shirts

The Legal Runaround has been a fixture in the Atlanta legal community since 1998. Every year, runners lace up, lawyers step away from their desks, and the city comes together for a race that has become something of a tradition. Each year produced a shirt, and over twenty-five years those shirts accumulated into a record of the event's entire history.

The Bar Association wanted to mark the 25th anniversary with something permanent, something that could live on a wall and tell the story of every single run. A commemorative quilt was the answer, and they came to me to make it happen.

Working with twenty-five shirts is one of my favorite kinds of commission. Each shirt has its own graphic, its own color story, its own personality from the year it was made. My job is to find the layout that honors every one of them while making the whole piece feel unified. With this quilt, I wanted the arrangement to feel like a timeline, so anyone looking at it could trace the race's history from the oldest shirts to the newest without the whole thing feeling like a patchwork of mismatched eras.

The Process of Building a Commemorative Quilt

Before I cut a single shirt, I lay everything out and study what I have. With a collection that spans nearly three decades, there were shirts in remarkable condition sitting right next to shirts that had clearly been worn hard and washed a hundred times. That is not a problem. It is part of the story. A quilt like this is not supposed to look pristine. It is supposed to look lived in.

I stabilize every shirt panel with interfacing before it gets cut. This step is non-negotiable for me, especially with older cotton shirts that have softened over the years. The interfacing keeps the fabric from stretching as I work and ensures the finished quilt holds its shape for decades to come. For a piece going up on a wall in a professional office, that longevity matters even more than usual.

Once the panels were cut and stabilized, I built the layout block by block, working chronologically from 1998 forward. The sashing I chose was a deep, neutral tone that let each shirt's graphics breathe without competing with the others. The backing and binding carried that same palette through to finish the piece cleanly on all sides.

The Unveiling at the Race

The quilt was displayed on a stand at the race itself, which made for an incredible moment. Seeing it vertical and in context, surrounded by runners who had worn some of those very shirts, was something I will not forget. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Atlanta Chief of Police Darin Schierbaum were both at the event, and I had the privilege of standing with them in front of the finished quilt for a photo. That is not something that happens every day, and it speaks to how meaningful this race is to the city of Atlanta.

What struck me most was how the race attendees reacted to the quilt. People stopped and read every shirt. They pointed out the years they remembered, the designs they recognized, the races they had run themselves. Several people came up to me directly and asked whether I could make a quilt from their own collection of race shirts. That reaction is exactly what this kind of work is supposed to do. It connects people to their own memories and makes them realize their shirts are worth preserving too.

Where the Quilt Lives Now

The quilt now hangs in the Atlanta Bar Association's office, where it will be a permanent part of the organization's history. Every year when Legal Runaround season rolls around, anyone walking through that office will be able to look at the wall and see twenty-five years of the race looking back at them. That kind of permanence is what separates a framed photo from a quilt. A quilt carries texture and weight and warmth in a way that a print on a wall simply cannot.

Custom Quilts for Organizations and Events in Atlanta

This commission opened my eyes to how well the t-shirt quilt format translates to organizations, associations, clubs, and teams. If your group has accumulated shirts from years of events, races, reunions, or milestones, those shirts are already telling a story. I can help you turn that story into something displayable and lasting.

I work with organizations of all sizes across Atlanta and the surrounding area. Whether you have ten shirts or fifty, I can design a layout that works for your space and your story. Commissions like this one are some of the most rewarding work I do, and I would love to talk through what might be possible for your group.