My SIL brought me a boat load of t-shirts to make her daughter and soon-to-be son-in-law a t-shirt quilt. These are all their shirts from college. I was wondering if anyone here has made a t-shirt quilt... and if so... what advise you would share. Thanks! Barb C.

I haven't made one myself but have helped with several. Cut out the portion of the tee you want to use. Cut it larger than the finished block size. Cut a piece of knit fusible at approximately the finished block size. Fuse the two together with the tee knit stretching from east and west and the fusible stretching north and south. This will stabilize the stretch. Make sure they are securely fused, cooled. Then cut to the finished size and use as you would any other block.
I think it is important to sash your blocks as this will help stabilize the block. Note, the blocks do not need to be the same size but will require some planning.
These t-shirt quilts are great for teens and a wonderful quilt for a student to take to college. It will be a one-of-a-kind and less likely to take a walk if you know what I mean.
Meanwhile, you young mothers start gathering significant t-shirts for use later. Suzanne

Thanks for the info. This one is a wedding gift from the Mom of the bride... kind of a neat gift I think. Both bride and groom went to the University of TX and all these shirts are from things there. I found some great UT fabric to use in the border.

My teenage son loves t-shirts... especially with neat sayings. I have 2 garbage bags full of his old shirts.. some from childhood (legos and such).. others more recent. I suspect he will have more than 1 t-shirt quilt.

Barb C

I, too, am making a T-shirt quilt for my daughter. Don't have much experience in making quilts so hope I haven't taken on too hard a project. The info about the backing of the shirts was very helpfull. I'll be interested in hearing how BarbC proceeds and if she runs into any unseen problems. My daughter has selected the fabric and is choosing her favorite 20 shirts. Keep me posted Barb and thanks Suz. Grandma

I will definitely keep you posted.

You can find lots of online sites on making t-shirt quilts with lots of info...
go to a search engine and search for t-shirt quilt how-to or t-shirt quilt instructions

Barb

Thanks Barb, I'll go searching but will look forward to see how you are doing.

Thanks for all the info.

Grandma

Here is a link that has information on your question.

http://www.straw.com/quilting/articles/teequilts_how.html

I hope these ideas are helpful along with advice give. June

I'm anxious to hear how this works from someone that's a novice at it, too. I have t-shirts from 30+ years working with Boy Scouts, from my two sons ball playing, and from their everything they did. lol lol I KNEW I was saving that stuff for a reason...

I want to thank each of you for taking the time to write about your experience with the different quilts and blocks and fabrics like this. I've found that the teachers I've worked with have done things, found shortcuts, and such that they "forget" we students don't know all of what they speak about. Maybe we should ask for a step by step direction from someone doing it for the first time? Sounds like a book I'd buy, anyone else?

I finished the T-shirt quilt I was making and have posted pictures in a post in the PICTURES Forum. Barb C.

Barb, Your T-Shirt Quilt is beautiful. I'm so impressed that you are done with it. :roll: I have yet to start as my daughter is still going through her T-shirts. We have all the material and supplies, but not all the shirts. After finishing your quilt, do you have any tips you can pass on? You mentioned that it was more difficult than you had anticipated--How so? I haven't made many quilts and when I see all the quilts you have made (on your web-site) I am quite intimidated. Thank you for finishing it and for sharing with us.