Shorebird

I have used this and it IS SOFT and remains so.....but it stabilized the cotton knit of the T Shirts. You really cannot do one of these successfully without the stabilizer.

Sew 'N Sew

I made a tee shirt quilt and used fleece for the back of the block but found it to be very heavy (in weight). It was extra long for my 6'6" nephew. Just a thought!

iaminstitches

Hello,
I am not an expert in this. I offered to create a t-shirt memory quilt for a good friend. I used a very firm iron on stabilizer. It was ok, but probably not as soft and cozy as I would have prefered. Recently, I have been making t-shirts tote bags.
I have been using "Pellon Fusible Interfacing" I purchased from Hancock Fabrics. The package is only .77 and has 3 yards of 15" of the interfacing. Since it isn't so stiff, the quilt/tote bags stay soft. I prefer to iron from the back. I found that if I ironed the interfacing to the shirt from the front of the shirt, sometimes the ink would spread to other parts of the shirts. Thus making a mess.
I have attached a picture of the quilt and one tote bag. Hope this is helpful. Good Luck, but have fun!
Karen

nellie

Karen thats a beauitful quilt also very nice colors that go so well togather

conniejean

I am in the process of making a t-shirt quilt using ARMO WEFT FUSIBLE as a stabilizer. It is expensive, $5.99/yd from an LQS. Not sure I can describe it, but it is more of an open-weave. It has no give in either direction. Each of the t-shirt blocks is very soft and pliable but stable. I have sewn 100% cotton strips around all sides of each block in colors matching the t-shirt colors and am now sewing each block with background fabric. All of the blocks are diffenent sizes making the background fabric different widths & lengths. When I finish sewing the top together, it will look like the blocks are laying on the solid color background. Not sure I explained this very well; will try to post a picture when the top in completed.

GailG

I used a good quality 100% woven fabric. The school t-shirt fabric was primary colors of crayons all in a row. All of the colors pulled in the different colors of the school shirts. For the t-shirt I gifted my SIL, I used a good quality 100% cotton plaid which pulled in the colors of the shirts. This last shirt quilt that is still a top :lol: , I used a khaki colored cotton solid. These shirts are those obtained on vacations over the years and couple of school shirts.

What I did was plan the size of the shirt blocks and then cut the sashing that length. To apply the shirt to the sashing, I pinned the two ends of the seam and then a couple of places in between. I did more pinning than I usually do, but it was worth the effort. To stitch, I placed the sashing on top and the shirt near the feed dogs. This allowed the feed dogs to ease in if there was any stretch. It really works well.

Go to the top of the page and click on Search. type in Gailg's T- shirt quilt. The second quilt I made will come up (It was the second item when I did it.) It was sent in by a qb friend because I am "computer challenged."

chrisqlt

I have used lightweight fusibles for knits that iron on that I found at JoAnn's. It has you put a dampened press cloth over as you press on the fusible side. Then you can cut the t shirt to size and assemble the blocks as you desire. It does make me nervous to put heat to the shirts in case any of the designs decide to run. Only had it happen to me one time though.

Currently I am doing one by layering muslin, cotton batting, and then the shirt. I mark the size square I will be cutting and quilt the squares worth through all the layers. Next I layer another shirt on and repeat. When I take it off my quilt machine I will cut out the shirts on the marked line. I think they will behave just fine. They will be soft and no ironing will have happened! You would need to finish with some sort of quilt as you go plan from there.

GailG

An interlock fusible interfacing is available that would work well. I have just never used it for this purpose. To avoid ruining the t-shirt with the iron, use a pressing cloth.

Decoratenu

I do a lot of machine embroidery & usually buy my stabilizers/interfacings online (try a couple of sites to compare prices, also try www.sewforless.com for their great sales). To save on how much stabilizer you have to use for a quilt, just press around the edges of each t-shirt block & then AFTER sewing the seams, you can cut away the centers to use on other projects. This allows it to remain soft in the middle, but if the shirts are really light-weight or very stretchy, I wouldn't do it. Good luck!

patsyo56721

The rag quilt will just cause the T.Shirts to ravel to much.