Mariposa

I have made t-shirt quilts, but only with interfacing. That is a must for me. Otherwise, the t-shirts are way too squirrelly.

cindi

I always, always, always use interfacing. Much easier to quilt and a much nicer, smoother finish. Where are these articles you guys are referencing? I’d love to read them to see their reasoning. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

meyert

Thank you so much for your reply and thoughts.

It was the website that Vinnie called out in their reply that I was reading. But I just can't settle into the thought. Even if I can imagine myself sewing the shirts without interfacing.. cutting them to size would really scare me

misseva

I've made a t-shirt quilt using freezer paper ironed to back of shirt instead of fusible interfacing and sewed regular cotton sashing on all four sides before removing it. Then I just sewed the blocks together and quilted in the sashing. My batting allowed wide spacing and the blocks were not real big.

meyert

interesting...that makes my mind whirl ha ha

Jannie

I asked my long armer about not using interfacing. She said it plays havoc with the needle. The fabric wants to come up with the needle and it makes a mess. She said she will not quilt a t-shirt quilt without interfacing. You might aqsk your long armer how she feels. Maybe if you are using your domestic machine or hand tying you could get away with it. For me, I will go to the effort to stabilize the shirts.

SuzzyQ

In my experience the interfacing generally lets go after a few washes anyway. Interfacing is lightweight and the tshirts are heavy so adding it doesn't make any difference in the weight but adds stability while you are working on it.

Still Sew N

Pellon 911F is my go to for t-shirt quilts. Love it and bought an entire bolt when Joanns had interfacing on sale at 60% off!

linda8450

I delivered a t-shirt quilt to the long armer for my friend. No stabilizer and minky back. Long armer just smiled and handed it back to me! Said stabilize it and I will attempt it (she does all our work so knows us well) but no guarantees. I took it back to friend and she ironed on to each square. It was adequate but not great. In hind site we decided we should have Not cut the stabilizer into squares, but just ironed on long strips right over the 2" sashing. Might have kept it from being so wonky. Minky just added to the wonky! It got quilted, but there were a few bumps and lumps. No wy to avoid it. Lesson learned!

meyert

I appreciate all of your thoughts. I have been thinking as well and I am thinking possibly the lady at the website only tried interfacing years ago - she started in 1992. So I am sure interfacing has come a long way since 1992. Just like so many other things with sewing

I will be using lightweight interfacing