An odd request
 

I have a friend who's child is in dance and she wants me to take her leotards and make them into a quilt. They are lycra and nylon I am not sure this could be done because of the stretch in the leotard. Has anyone does this before?

Hmmm. I would try to put a light weight fusible interfacing on one piece. Don't know if the lycra will even take high enough heat to activate the adhesive. If it works, maybe make the quilt mostly cotton with some of the lycra as pieced accents? If it doesn't work, maybe try cutting one in strips, folding it in half and making a ruffle? If it were me, and the fusible didn't work, I probably would suggest a dance related cotton fabric theme instead.

you could applique the leotards to a cotton backing?

well you could appplique dance shoes cut from her 'outfit' and use the tights as the bows maybe.. it will be a pain but do-able i would think..

I don't really think your friend has a good understanding of quilts or she'd probably recognize the difficulty with what she's asking you to do. I would have to gently educate if it were my friend and then perhaps I'd offer to make a cotton quilt that is related to the type of dancing her daughter does. I would not commit to making a quilt like she's asking, I just wouldn't enjoy the process or the struggle with it.

You first need to stabilize the stretch. Since the lycra does not like heat, I would consider using a spray basting to afix them to either a interfacing or muslin base then baste the perimeter . When cutting the fabric ..cut larger , then once afixed trim , then baste using a slight zig zag stitch. Do use a ball point needle for this work.
If you have not worked with alot of knits .. this may very well not be a project you want to tackle.
Just my opinion ... this is has the potential to be a very large pain in the ..... project.

Have you worked with stretch knits? This stuff is very stretchy. Some of it likes to "run" when it gets holes in it.

Maybe get one of the very worn out leotards and experiment with it.

I agree with Lori S - this has the potential of being a PITA project.

I would say no. I once made a quilt out of assorted fabrics on commission. It was out of her deceased mothers clothes. There was everything in there from a Nylon lycra bathing suit, to knits, fleece, sweatshirts and cottons. It was do-able and she was very pleased with the final quilt but I will never, ever do it again. I can pretty much assure you that while it can be done, you will most definitely NOT enjoy the process.

I would tell her no. Non sewers do not understand sewing and non quilters do not understand quilt making.

I agree with the others that said it will be miserable time spent making this quilt. The first and last time I offered to make a quilt using old clothes made me detest working on it by the time I had the clothing cut. I didn't like the colors or the fabrics. I had to make myself work on the quilt. I was never so glad to get through with it. Never again will I make a quilt from someone's idea of won't it be nice to have this made in a quilt we can all remember. They can look at a photograph!