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making a t-shirt quilt: anyone btdt? advice?


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I made a quilt with my race shirts from college years ago. It just got pulled out semi-recently because we needed more throw blankets.

 

Cut all the shirts the same size. I assume that you are using t-shirts to make a quilt because of a logo on them. I think mine were cut 12"x12".

Lay the shirts out on the floor until you get the look you want. Move them around if needed. Try different orders for the shirts. Eventually you will look at it and say that's it! Lay on top of your t-shirts to make sure it is the size quilt you want.

Sew the shirts together one row at a time. Either vertical or horizontal, doesn't matter. Mine has 5 rows up and down and 4 shirts across each row. I sewed 4 the 4 shirts together on each row. I put the rows back on the floor as I finished them so I remembered where they went.

Then sew the rows together matching the corners of the shirts. You want 4 shirts to come together at the seams so you have a nice 4 corners look. Tried to google an image for you but there is a quilt block called 4 corners. :glare: Think about how the 4 corners states come together.

Finish as a regular quilt with batting, backing, borders.

 

I would tie the quilt at the corners of the t-shirts. But honestly, I didn't do that to mine and it's fine so far. Nothing has shifted inside.

 

Just took a picture and will try to attach it so you can see mine. Please excuse any mess on the floor, boy child's slumber party was last night. they aren't up yet!

 

Does that help?

post-265-13535087705187_thumb.jpg

post-265-13535087705187_thumb.jpg

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I have made a lot of t-shirt quilts. The first thing you need to do is get woven fusible interfacing. You can go into any quilt store and say you need interfacing for a t-shirt quilt and they will know what you are talking about. The interfacing will stabilize the t-shirts so they don't stretch any more. It really just makes it easier to sew.

 

After that, I cut all of the t-shirt designs out the same size, larger than I want the squares to be, fuse them to the interfacing, and then cut again at the size I want the squares to be, plus 1/2 inch for seam allowance. I don't cut all of the shirts the same size because I don't want a lot of blank space around the designs. Then I fit all the t-shirts together like a puzzle. So my quilts don't come out to be a grid. This does make it more difficult. Most people like the grid quilt just fine. I just like a challenge. (And I get bored sewing all those straight lines...) Then I sew the together, layer the quilt, quilt, and bind.

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:iagree:

Fusible interfacing will make it so much easier and greatly improve the finished look. I would machine quilt a bit too for stability. I have never made one but have planned them. Bags of old clothing waiting to be quilted!;)

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One more fun thing I like to do...All of the little logos on pockets or on the front of shirts where the main design is the back? I cut them out tight around the logo and appliqué them to the quilt. I sometimes put one or two on the back just for fun. It breaks up all the straight lines...

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:iagree:

Fusible interfacing will make it so much easier and greatly improve the finished look. I would machine quilt a bit too for stability. I have never made one but have planned them. Bags of old clothing waiting to be quilted!;)

 

This is what my mom did when she made my dh's quilt.

Turned out great! Good luck!

Oh! And she found a pattern for one that explained different sizes from throw to king size. We have a twin.

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