Using stabilizer does not mean you have to make uniform rows of T-shirts. I have made at least 8 T-shirt quilts and all of them I used stabilizer. Here is a picture of one I made using the stabilizer method and not doing the shirts in
uniform rows:
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I agreed with maviskw, if you have experience you can give it a shot. I am curious, does the book recommend doing anything at all to the shirts to minimize the stretchy-ness? Such as starching heavily, sewing them to some sort of foundation or stay stitching around the blocks? I simply can't imagine attempting to make one without somehow controlling the stretching and curling inherent in working with knitted T-shirt material, Additionally if you do make without a stabilizer you are committed to quilting VERY densely as gramajo's quilt demonstrates. There is no getting around that due to the nature of the beast. Stabilized T's will allow you to quilt less densely. In fact, my first half dozen I tied every 4" as I did not have a longarm. You can quilt them on a domestic but be prepared for a workout. T-shirt quilts are incredibly heavy, even without stabilizer.