Thread: Help with T-Shirt quilt?????

We have a very sweet young man that asked me to make a T-Shirt quilt for his girlfriend. I have never made one before, but I did some practicing & now I'm ready to go. I am going to make it a twin size because we all want to be able to put one in the washing machine & not have to look for a laundry mat with super sized washing machines. Now the question, I was planning on using warm & natural batting, but they have sent flannel to use for the backing. Do you think this would be to heavy & is so would you use a thin polester batting. Thanks for any advice.

I used warm and natural with flannel on the back of a queen sized tshirt quilt, it does make it a heavier quilt but it was for someone in Ohio so it was nice and warm!!!! Maybe make you a sample with some scraps and see what works best, that's what I do when I'm not sure.

Originally Posted by quilts4charity

I used warm and natural with flannel on the back of a queen sized tshirt quilt, it does make it a heavier quilt but it was for someone in Ohio so it was nice and warm!!!! Maybe make you a sample with some scraps and see what works best, that's what I do when I'm not sure.

I had to laugh because Ohio is where this quilt is going. Thanks for letting me know that you had used the warm & natural batting & flannel backing.

It will be very heavy. Not just for warmth but weight wise. I think I would opt for a lighter weight poly batting which will give equivalent warmth but not near as much weight. With W&N, it will weigh a LOT when washing and could easily knock a top loader out of whack if not centered correctly. With poly batting I was able to cram a queen size into my standard top loader. And I live in the frigid Northeast.

Edited to add, you also want to consider that weight when quilting. Until I got my LA, I tied them. No way would I want to try and wrestle any size T-shirt quilt through my domestic.

Originally Posted by feline fanatic

It will be very heavy. Not just for warmth but weight wise. I think I would opt for a lighter weight poly batting which will give equivalent warmth but not near as much weight. With W&N, it will weigh a LOT when washing and could easily knock a top loader out of whack if not centered correctly. With poly batting I was able to cram a queen size into my standard top loader. And I live in the frigid Northeast.

Edited to add, you also want to consider that weight when quilting. Until I got my LA, I tied them. No way would I want to try and wrestle any size T-shirt quilt through my domestic.

Another good thing to think about, I am sending it out to be quilted so no worry with that part. Thanks.

I agree with the others. Not too warm, especially for someone up north here, but might be too heavy ... especially if you are adding stabilizer to the T-shirts. That said, I had a friend in grad school who had exactly that quilt & it was no heavier than the purchased bedspread my mom has with tons of dense embroidery.

I think it all depends on how it's going to be used and the personal preferences of the recipient. Can you ask him if he thinks she'd prefer something akin to a weighted blanket or something lighter weight?

Originally Posted by cindi

It won't be that heavy. W&N is thin, and with the flannel it will be perfect for those Ohio nights. I've got a t-shirt quilt that has W&N and flannel that I use every day - summer and winter. It's my absolute favorite quilt.


I just weighed it, and it's 3 lbs, 8 oz. Very light. It's almost twin size. It's so light it wouldn't register on my regular scale. I had to weigh it on my weight-watcher's scale, LOL!

Very pretty, thank for the info on the weight. Now I know that I will use the W& N batting with a flannel backing.

Correction: oops! I misread & thought you were making a queen-sized quilt. Twin should be fine. I've made lap quilts that were close to twin-size with flannel and W&N and now with the extra nice Warm & Plush and quilted them with 1" quilting; it was still light enough for my 2 year old niece to drag around the house. Assuming the T-shirts are regular weight & you pick something lightweight to stabilize them, it shouldn't be too bad.