t shirt quilts
 

Hi, I longarm for others and just got a t-shirt quilt and the stabilizer is not stuck to the blocks and am having a lot of shifting from hopping quilt as I go across the top. It has lots of rubbery wording and pictures on it so I can't press as I go. Has anyone else ever had this problem? I'm getting lots of puckers as I go because of the shifting.
Thanks
Jeanne

I haven't had that happen to me and I have quilted many T-shirt quilts for others.

How far along are you on the quilt. I would call the customer and let her know what is happening and ask if you should continue. She could probably fix it by using a pressing cloth on the back side of the top.

What batting are you using? Some battings help the top cling to it a little.

I understand how you must be feeling because your quiltling is your reputation...as good of a quilter you are it is difficult to correct some piecing errors that are beyond your control.

It sounds like your client didn't use a fusible stabilizer but one where she simply backed the T and sewed around the edges. I have never done a T-shirt quilt done without fusible stabilizer.

Definitely contact your client now, before going any further and ask how she wants you to proceed. You don't have too many options at this point. If she used a non fusible stabilizer as I suspect, you could try using a lot of spray on starch. It would really slow down your quilting process though as you would need to spray starch then let that dry then quilt and repeat this for every advance. But the starch may just stabilize the T's enough to stop the shifting.

You could also try and remove the quilt from your rack, pick out what you have done so far, then cut away all stabilizer on the backs then starch the dickens out of it, let it air dry, press with a pressing cloth and reload, This would be a ton of work though and I would certainly charge extra for all this. And at this point I am guessing as I have never been faced with this issue and can't even say for sure if it would help. I am thinking she probably used a tricot as a stabilizer on the back as that is super slippery and will shift and slip around a lot. Not only against the T but also on the batting.

Oh, one other thing you can try, I don't know if you are working from the back of the quilt with a panto or the front doing freehand quilting. If from the front you can try laying some bolts of fabric or bags of rice on the quilt to create drag and weight. This may help stop the quilt from bouncing around and shifting so much from the hopping foot.

Please come back and let us know what resolution you had. Your experience could help someone else down the line.

I don't know about the quilting, but I have just finished a t-shirt quilt top and there were a lot of that rubbery material on the logos. I did use an iron with a press cloth. The stabilizer was applied by pressing it on with a press cloth on top. Then I gave it a final press with the press cloth over the right side. Once it was done, I was giving the sashing a final press and forgot the cloth and tipped one of the logos and did a bit of melting, but thankfully, I caught it before it was very bad. The press cloth did work for me.

I don't do long arm so just guessing - but if you take it apart what about using a spray adhesive to adhere the top to the batting.

Just putting in my 2 cents worth...I don't recommend doing anything to a customers quilt without the customers knowledge. Run some options by the customer and then together decide what is the best way to proceed.

I have heard too many, "the longarmer did this or that to my quilt". Play it safe and communicate.

First contact the customer and let her know the issue. If you are using a poly bat--don't! too slick! I had this issue one I made that had lots of those big plastic logos--the stablizer is harder to get to stick and require you use a pressing cloth and I worked from back when making it--but still doesn't "stick" as well. Also, if the t-shirts have polyester in them instead of 100% cotton, they need a lower temp on the iron, and if some of them then were 100% the iron would have had to be turned hotter--easy to forget when stablizing them. I would not recommend using a panto on these plastic like logos--I round that sewing thru them created lots of drag and they tend to "stick" to the needle and pull. But definitely contact the customer and have her take a look and see what's happening. Good luck!

I did one for a step granddaughter. I did not use batting but used fleece as my backing. I sew along the squares with a walking foot and it came out great.

I don't do longarm quilting but I have made several t-shirt quilts. I put tissue paper over the really rubbery designs I wanted to quilt thru. It helped to quilt across them. I also use a batting where I can quilt pretty far apart as I sometimes don't want to quilt across some of the designs.
Good luck solving your problem.

I've quilted many t-shirt quilts. Definitely contact the quilt owner before going any further. I suggest avoiding quilting through any heavy rubberized areas. The thread will wear away quickly, and tension is hard to control through these sections. I usually outline rubberized areas only, and they look great and hold up well.