Originally Posted by Stasia
This is my first post on anything. I'm new to quilting, but not sewing. My son is leaving for college and I've been saving all of his sports t-shirts since he was 5. I'm making his Journey quilt. I backed every shirt on Pellon 906F and there is a 1 & 1/2 inch sashing around the shirts. It's all sewn together and ready for quilting. I have a new quilting machine and I've been practicing on a mock quilt. I've got the meander stitch down pretty good. I was originally going to meander just the shirts and do something different in the sashing, but I meandered across the sashing (on the mock quilt) and it looks nice also. So if I decide to do the entire quilt in meander, do I still stitch the ditch along the sashing first or do I forgo that whole ditch part? Will it be stable if I don't stitch the ditch? I'm so confused and my brain hurts from reading the entire internet and not finding an answer. Any input would be fantastic!!
Hello from Atlanta, GA. I've made 2 t-shirt quilts (for sons)--first one had sashing and second did not. Like you, I used Pellon on the back for stability; for me, it was easier to cut and sew. I did allow my quilting to go into the sashing and I did not stitch the ditch. This decision was made by the batting I used. Check your requirements on the batting. I use 100% cotton or 80/20 blend, and that particular quilt batting required quilting at least 5" apart. Theme: Harley shirts documenting my son's ride to the West coast thus HD emblems for the quilting pattern. The second quilt--used Pellon, used batting that required quilting at least 10" apart, and randomly attached the t-shirts (no sashing, non-symmetrical). I enjoyed this one more because it allowed me to be more random with my quilting. I quilted each t-shirt section with its own design--echoing a decal, diagonal lines, meandering, etc. The variety made it more fun for me.
Good luck and remember to share pictures!