Making a quilt from shirts: Question
 

I picked up a few used mens' shirts today to cut up for a quilt...kind of an experiment. They are all 100% cotton, but a couple of them are "rustley"; they make noise when rubbed together. I am wondering if this is just due to the smooth finish of the cotton? Any way to keep it from happening? I wonder if when they are cut up and pieced with pieces that don't rustle, if I won't notice it as bad. It's kind of annoying. You couldn't sneak up on a person while wearing one of them.

I've never heard of 100% cotton being rustley. But if it makes noise when rubbed together, I would not include that fabric in my quilt

Have you washed them? They might just have starch or something in them. Maybe wash them with fabric softener.

My first thought would be to launder them using detergent, some vinegar and fabric softener ( liquid- not bounce sheets). If that doesn’t take care of the problem I would not use them.

As long as they are cotton I would use them if i liked them. In the quilt the pieces will not be rubbing against each other so I doubt it will be an issue at all.

I repurpose 100% cotton shirts all the time and I know the issue you are describing. I find that this finish makes it easier to work with and, has a stabilizing effect giving me better accuracy with less effort.

If you aren’t sure if some of the shirts are all cotton, I’d stabilize those in particular. I recently made a t shirt quilt with cotton blocks in the corners. I stabilitised the t shirts but not the corners. It came out great. I used Pellon shapeflex SF 101. It’s a fusible woven stabilizer. I like and use it a lot. You can get it almost anywhere. Walmart Joanns and amazon.

Shirt quilts are the best! Enjoy...

The first quilt I ever made was without any instructions at all. I knew nothing except I had seen a You Tube on QAYG with the sashing between blocks. I had a box of scraps given to me that I wanted to use up. That quilt has every kind of fabric; cotton, jersey, lots of polyester, and that bumpy fabric. Of course it is a scrap quilt made without a pattern. It is on my bed now, and I see no problem with it at all.

Check the labels for country of origin. Some countries are not honest about labels. If laundering doesn't solve the problem try a burn test.