Stabilizers for T shirt quilts
 

I have been doing research on making a T shirt quilt. There are so many stabilizers on the market it is confusing on which one to use. For those of you that have made T shirt quilts what stabilizer do you recommend. Has anyone used a polyester Tee shirt in your quilt, you know the kind like a basketball jersey. Thanks in advance.

My friend and partner Cindi has made several. She uses and recommends Pellon 906F.

I've also used Pellon 906F with success. Not my favorite quilt, glad to have a long arm to finish it due to it being so heavy.

I've used Pellon 911ff

Never made one yet but will be following this with interest!

I did several large t-shirt quilts and used french fuse, you can get 60" width so it goes a lot farther than the Pellon

https://www.backsidefabrics.com/fren...rfacing-white/

I just asked the lady behind the counter at Joann's and she showed me what to use. Very helpful!

I used Pellon 911ff and the cheapest way to buy it was through Walmart.com and getting their free shipping to the store neatest to me. As far as the slinky jersey, I'd say do a practice block, including the quilting. Also remember that quilting through those giant numbers most of them have is a drag. Meaning skipped stitches, problems with tension, etc.

One thing i found was that some of my shirt squares came unbonded during the wrestling match we had during the quilting process. Not sure if it was from them having built up fabric softener in them, me not bonding them well enough or with heat that was not high enough or what. I confess I did not follow the directions exactly. They said to use a damp pressing cloth and I was all, "Ain't nobody got time for that!" which ended up costing me more time in the end. Haha, famous last words!!

I've made quit a few. I've used Pellon 906, Pellon 911ff (like it better than 906); Flex-fuse (a knit that does have stretch one way) and Shape-fuse. I prefer Shape-fuse, which is used in men's suits and sometimes you can find it at 56" widths which makes it much cheaper to use than the others which come in 20" widths. There's also less bulk than the Pellon and no stretch like the Flex-fuse. All are about the same price if 20" widths (the Shape-fuse comes in 20" and 56" and the 56" is just cheaper because it covers the whole t-shirt back without using several small pieces, etc).

Yes--you can use the knit jerseys--I've used football, basketball and hockey jerserys. The issue with them is not so much the knit, but they usually either have a heavy-duty emblem on them or are printed with pure plastic--neither plays well with quilting! One word of caution--be sure to read the directions on the stabilizers as you will want to use a lower heat on your iron with the poly jerseys AND also with any t-shirts that are a cotton/poly blend--some fusibles don't work as well at the lower heat.

I usually use a light weight fusible...I started out using Tricot fusible (stretch of the tricot knit one way, stretch of the t-shirt going the other. I don't have a preference to either one, they both worked equally well. I concur on plastic logos and jersey knits...not much fun. Make a pillow out of those!