running1

Hi quilting friends! I've never been intrigued by t-shirt quilts... but after cleaning out our closets (mine and DH's) today, and discovering a BUNCH of old t-shirts, many of which hold fond memories, but which neither of us will ever wear again, I've decided that is exactly what I want to do! All of a sudden (after 37 years) we have SO MANY T-SHIRTS!!! I've seen a pattern for making these quilts, but can't remember where... and I really want to go ahead and start cutting out the cute parts so I can recycle the rest as cleaning rags and such. What, if anything do I need to do before cutting? Do I go ahead and stabilize? What do you use to stabilize t-shirt blocks? Does the type of sashing matter? Do I use batting? In other words... HELP!!??!!?? I need all the help you can offer! And THANK YOU for all your suggestions!!

BarbaraA

The advice I got was to cut the pieces as big as possible, put pelon on the back and then cut down. I used sashing as I was doing a baby quilt. I didn't want to quilt through the clothes. It turned out rather big though. I also used a thin cotton batting, and it is heavy. Good luck. I am glad I am done with this one, although I know it will make my dear daughters freind very happy, so that was worth it!!!

blahel

i too want to know as I also went through our closet and hubby mentioned that he would like a quilt made out of all his car racing t-shirts...

tesspug

Cut the design as large as you can and back them with light weight iron-on Pelon. You can then cut them all the same size and add sashing or adjust the sashing to make the blocks all the same size. I used Hobbs 80/20 batting and quilted through the shirts. Google images of T-shirt quilts to see how you like them. I did one with t-shirts on both sides.

linbails

I am getting ready to put the binding on the quilt I just finished for my husband. I agree cut it as big as you can and than iron on lightweight interfacing . then you cut it down to size. I added sashing so all mine ended up the same size.

katier825

A lot of people use the regular lightweight fusible interfacing. I used the fusible tricot. I was very pleased with the results. It was very soft and easy to handle. The only thing with the tricot is to be sure to apply it with the stretch going the opposite way of the stretch in the tee shirt.

I agree, cut them out as large as you can, then you can decide later what size squares/rectangles to cut them down to. Mine were odd sizes, so I added wide borders to all so I could trim them back to the same size. Some ended up with borders a little wider on the sides than top & bottom, but it looked good when done. I used sashing between the blocks in a stripe with colors that tied them all together.

HillCountryGal

Linbails = I love how you used the black fabric to give your quilt depth! Very clever.

I made a t-shirt quilt before I knew what I was doing. hee, hee... Didn't back the t-shirts with anything. Now I see that would have made the process a bit easier. Basically, I just zig-zaged them on to the fabric. It's held up very well during washings. For the backing, I used polar fleece. It's not actually "quilted". Bottom line, the man was happy.

donnalynett

I made a queen size a couple of months ago and it weighed 35 lbs and I used Hobbs batting. Was really difficult to manuver around while trying to quilt on my home sewing machine. I am currently working on a t-shirt lap quilt 60x80" and this time I used a thin polyester batting. I also used a lighter weight stabilizer on the back of the t-shirts. Hope this one is easier to quilt!

running1

Linbails... LOVE your quilt!!! the black gives it such depth!! That is one cool quilt!

moreland

linbails--your quilt is wonderful. I love the shadows and that you used wide sashing. It looks like a picture wall. I have a box of my grandson's t-shirts waiting to be made into a quilt. I've done several over the years, but none as pretty as yours! I am inspired! Thanks for sharing.