Manalto

I'm making a tee-shirt (T-shirt?) quilt for someone as a favor. (Quilts with words on them are not my cup of tea, so I've procrastinated for over a year and have got to get to it.) The quilt commemorates 20 or so years of a charity run, so there are 20+ shirts of various bright colors, some with the year printed on them, some without. I bought some bright batik to harmonize with the various colors of shirts as sashing, and I know about using the iron-on interfacing to stabilize the knitted fabric, but beyond that, I could use some advice.
- Should I orient all the shirt-patches in the same direction and place them in chronological order (so they read like a page, beginning at upper left? There are various sponsors printed on the backs of the shirts, too. They plan to hang the quilt in Town Hall, which may make an orderly arrangement more desirable; on the other hand, it may be more fun for people to peruse the quilt to pick out the pieces they're looking for.)
- Should I go for random patches of tee-shirt, turned in various directions and cut various sizes? (More work and calculating, I know)
- Is sashing a good idea? It does "tame down" the vividly-colored shirts a bit by picking up their colors.
- All these pieces potentially add up to a huge quilt. What's a good size limit? (I have to quilt it - probably SID - on a domestic machine.)
- What about all the leftover tee-shirt pieces? Any use for them?

Sorry for the multiple questions, but I've got to get some momentum going on this before I disappoint those who are waiting for it. Responses to any of these questions - or suggestions on how to proceed - are much appreciated!

selm

I have a tee-shirt quilt in the planning stages. I've researched pictures of t-shirt quilts online and I think I prefer the ones that have sashing. Without the sashing they look a bit chaotic I feel. If it is to be hung I think orienting all the patches in the same direction may make it easier for the viewers to see/read the patches. Various sized blocks would be ok and may be necessary due to sizes of patches from shirts. Overall size? what is size of wall it will hang on? other than that it could be any size you want(this may decide if you want to include sponsors from shirt backs). Only thing I can think to do with left over pieces is to cut into manageable pieces for cleaning rags.

Good luck with your project.

Manalto

Thanks, Sally. I agree that the sashing unifies the jumble of colors, especially since I lucked out and found that batik fabric that picks up several of the brighter tones.

I haven't seen where it will hang in Town Hall, but that's temporary. The person I'm making it for plans to take it home after it's taken down, so I'd better stick to queen-size, I guess.

Good luck on your tee-shirt quilt too!

ManiacQuilter2

When I am not sure how to approach a t-shirt quilt, I go on Google to find various layout.
https://www.google.com/search?q=t-sh...IVF9NjCh0hCwNC
Be sure to let your friend have an opinion on the layout. Good Luck. These are heavy quilts.

Jeanne S

Since it will be hung, I agree to orient the writing in the same direction to be easily readable. I would also go with sashing because you are likely to have different size t-shirt pieces and can vary the width of the sashing to help fit it all together. No advice on the size.

tessagin

I love to do Google searches. It's my go to for any search.

Manalto

I never think to say "I've done a bunch of Google searches, but..." because I used to work with researchers and have been using Google since it launched in September of 1998, that is, for seventeen years. It's a good resource, but it isn't a substitute for everything. For example, in all my poking around, I never encountered mention, as ManiacQuilter2 did, that tee-shirt quilts are heavy. Makes sense when you think about it, but I didn't. I also value greatly the opinions of this particular select group on QB. Google won't let me filter for "people who know what they're talking about" so, thank you!

Someone advised me to take all the rough-cut tee shirt pieces and interface them en masse, rather than doing each one individually. That's today's project; this will give me a better idea of what I'm dealing with.

Pat M.

Just remember that the knit fabric of the T-shirts is stretched horizontally and the interfacing should be vertical. That way there is no stretch and the fabric will not bunch up when sewing together.

Manalto

Good to know. I guess I'll have to retain that information in the unlikely event that I make another tee-shirt quilt, because I had just finished interfacing the pieces before I read your post. The good news is it seems pretty stable now.

Homespun

for the leftovers: I cut small pieces ( 3/4" x 3) and sewed them in rows tightly together and made a cute fluffy rug for in front of the shower.