Quilting t shirt blocks
 

I am a beginning quilter and need some advice. I've made a quilt top using 15" X 15" t-shirt blocks. My batting says to quilt 10 inches apart. I plan to stitch around the edge of each block, but what do I do inside the block? Some of the designs are "rubbery" and I don't know if sewing through them is a good idea. Thanks!

It sounds like you have a domestic sewing machine (DSM), so I would definitely recommend starting by stitching around each block to secure that area.

I have a longarm, and I have quilted several T-shirt quilts for one of my customers, usually with a pantograph that has a "theme" that matches the "theme" of the t-shirts. I did not have any problems at all stitching through the different logos, decals, whatever was on the t-shirt. I've done football themes (shirts were all from football camps, etc), western themes (shirts were horses, cowboy boots, etc), and I just did a feather panto on one quilt that had all kinds of t-shirts.

If you're on a DSM, I would recommend changing your sewing machine needle to a "JEANS" needle, to ensure that it goes easily through anything printed on the t-shirt. This should take care of the "rubbery" sections you mentioned. A large, all-over meander will serve you well for the stitching within the blocks of the t-shirts.

Depending on the density of the t-shirt design, I often found that a medium stipple in the non-printed areas with a thread that matched the t-shirt fabric was sufficient to stabilize that particular t-shirt 'block'.

Do NOT sew through the rubbery logo. Tension is always a mess trying to sew through those. Sew around the logos. It makes them pop!

Does anyone recommend knotting T-shirt quilts? If so, how close can you knot and do you knot on the T-shirt design? I have one I need to finish for someone for Christmas.

Thanks.

I use at least a jean or 14 quilting needle on my dsh I just use a meandering design or large stipple and yes I go thru the rubbery designs without any problem

Thanks for the start of this thread, anxious to see the different opinions and tips.

Because you are new, I would start simple (you can always add more!). Do the stitching around each block. If you did sashing, perhaps a wavy line down the middle of the sashing as wide as the sashing. If no sashing, then perhaps a very wide zigzag along the stitch line (more forgiving than STID for a newbie). Then, find a thread color that works for the whole quilt and stitch a line around each of the logos. If you can, you can do an echo stitch about 1/2" around. If not comfortable with it, just do a box around the logo. This will hold it, but be fairly easy for you. As you get more experience, you can try more involved quilting. A T-shirt quilt can be a very difficult thing to do - Congrats on doing it! And, remember, many 'mistakes' are simply new design elements! Think about what you created, not the small imperfections you think it has.

You can tie the quilt but I would have the knots on the back. That way it would not take away from the logos on the front. You could work from the quilt top, to place the threads/yarns in places that would be pleasing when finished.

I have quilted lots of Tshirt quilts, one thing make sure you use a larger needle. I have had no trouble quilting through the rubber blocks.. I have seen some quilted where the just do a circle around the rubbery area then just quilt around it. Depending on how big the decal is, I would think that would leave a saggy place.