Chasing Hawk

I cleaned out the attic above the shop today. And found all my Harley t shirts. I want to make a quilt with them. Can someone point me in the right direction, perhaps a book I can get or a website.

Thanks

dakotamaid

Google "how to sew t shirt quilts" and take your pick of the directions online! :-D

There are so many that you need to look and see which one you would prefer. :D

maryb119

Tee-shirt quilts are easy to make because they have such big pieces. First you cut the front of the tee shirt bigger than the finished block size. Then you use fusible interfacing on the back of the whole piece, being careful not to melt the design on the front. I use a teflon applique pressing sheet under mine. Make sure it is fused on well. Then and only then, cut the teel shirt to the size block you want. There are books with ideas for layouts but mostly, you just start putting them together. You can use shashing between the blocks or just stitch the blocks together if you have enough to make the quilt the size you want.

Chasing Hawk

Thanks, I should have enough shirts to make a king size quilt.

Prism99

I definitely recommend using fusible tricot for the fusible interfacing. This is a soft knit fusible that doesn't make the t-shirt fabric too stiff. JoAnn's has small amounts of it but, for a king size quilt, it would be more economical to buy it online from a drapery supplier. This is where I bought mine:
http://www.bblackandsons.com

and here is a link to the product:
http://www.bblackandsons.com/tricot-...-60-p-302.html

Chasing Hawk

Thanks for the suggest and hint.

feline fanatic

I have made 6 Harley T-shirt quilts. Here is how I do it:
I use my 12 1/2" square ruler to cut out the imprint on front and back.
I then fuse a 12 1/2" lightweight fusible interface on them so they don't stretch out of shape.
For a queen size quilt I do 20 squares in the middle arranged 4 across 5 down with 2 1/2" finished size sashing (3" cut strips) between each square. I do cornerstones as well. So I end up cutting 3 x 12.5 for sashing. I sew on each side of square (or top and bottom) and then sew a 3" square cornerstone on each end of the 3 x 12.5 peices of sashing I have not sewn to the t-shirt square. I then make my rows. Row 1 3 and 5 have sashing around all 4 sides of squares. Row 2 and 4 only have the sashing between, nothing on top and bottom. I then sew these rows together. Then I take a complimenting strip cut 1.5 and do a narrow inner border (this is optional). I then take more T-shirt squares and sew them together with no sashing to make my outer border. If you don't do an inner border the quilt will take 7 12.5 squares sewn together for top and bottom and 8 12.5 squares for sides. If you do the inner border you will need to cut one wider square for each side to make up for the extra 2" you added with the inner border. I just completed a top recently that I have to sandwich and tie. I will try and get a picture of it on for you to look at. Harley T's make great T-shirt quilts because they have such great colorful imprints on them.

feline fanatic

Oh yes, I forgot you have to use a pressing cloth at all times. The ink used on Harley shirts melts real easy if you put the iron straight on it. Always have a cloth inbetween T and iron.

Chasing Hawk

I agree about the Harley shirts, I have a lot of nice ones with rather vivid colors on them. I would love to see your quilt when its done.

feline fanatic

OK here is a picture of one I made several years ago for our HOG club. It's not a very good picture but you can get the basic idea. Also, I miscounted my border squares in my previous message. I sew the longer sides on first and without an inner border (like the one pictured) it is 6 12 1/2 squares sewn together with standard 1/4" border. I press these seams open. Then on the top and bottom it is 7 12 1/2 squares sewn together. This particular quilt, I had a couple of imprints that were narrow so I cut some at 6 1/4" (I think.). For T's that only have a back imprint and a pocket or small breast design I use those small ones for the cornerstones. Also a lot of the "girly" Harley shirts only have a tiny little imprint of the dealer name and maybe a tribal looking design. I also use those for cornerstones.