TShirt quilts

I once taught a class for Tshirt quilts so I am including my outline for your reference.

T Shirt Quilts
Tools and Supplies

 Fabric Scissors
 Press cloth – 18” muslin
 Old terry towel
 Mister bottle
 Rotary cutter with a new blade
 12- or 16-inch square up ruler
 6” x 12” rotary ruler(or size your prefer to work with)
 Cutting Mat
 Lightweight fusible interfacing(I prefer woven) – 6 to 8 yards
 Sewing machine with new 80/12 or 90/14 sharp needle
 Cotton thread
Sort Your Shirts
 Use 4 to 36, 12-15 can make up to a queen-sized quilt
 Wash your shirts
 Press the fronts from the wrong side
 Determine size of the design area and group T Shirts by design size(18” maximum and divisible by 2 or 3 plus ½ inch total seam allowance)
 Make a list of design sizes(including 2-3 inches around the edges of printed design)
 Consider usable designs from other areas of T Shirt also
 Cut up the side seams of T Shirts, through the sleeve and across the neckband(remove neckband if desired), if to gain as much usable shirt as possible(consider saving good backs for iron on transfers)
 Cut the interfacing pieces larger than the desired finished block size
 Put T Shirt right side(design side) down on ironing board
 Center the interfacing on the T Shirt design and using the dampened press cloth fuse the interfacing to the shirt according to directions(beware of wrinkles, once they are cool they will not come out)
 Cut the interfaced pieces to the exact size needed for the quilt with scissors or rotary cutter.(use large square up ruler or Plexiglas template cut by local glass supplier centered on the design area – measure twice, cut once)


Determine use of quilt
 Bed
 Wall hanging
 Car or Picnic Blanket
 Backdrop for trophy collection
Select a Design Layout
 Diamond in a square
 Log Cabin type borders
 Narrow framing
 No sashing (horizontal & vertical strips of fabric between the blocks)
 Sashing and cornerstones
 Vertical sashing (strippy quilt)
 9-patch cornerstones & rail sashing
 Star sashing
 Easy Attic Windows
 Alternate fabric blocks
 Flying geese
 Checkerboard
 Lightening set
 Twist and Turn
Choose Fabrics
 For setting quilt, borders, binding, and backings(remember to consider value, scale and texture as well as color)
 Color helps to unify the quilt – choose it with the recipient in mind and know that setting fabrics will determine the color of the quilt
 Allow an extra ½ yard for shrinkage and any mistakes in cutting.
 Flannel or Polarguard may be used as well and with no batting if desired
 Wash fabric before you use it to be sure color won’t run and the fabric will not shrink after the quilt is finished
Add
 Photo transfer
 Embellishments – trinkets, beads, ribbon, embroidery, buttons, medals, etc.



Construction
 Arrange T Shirt squares as desired
 Sew by rows or columns adding sashings as you go
 Put your favorite shirts in the center of the quilt
 Add fabric to make blocks of equal size
 When pressing, be sure to put a cloth over the shirts so the designs will not smear
 Batting – could use none for thin quilt
 Backing – flannel or polarguard are acceptable
 Tie or quilt
 Label
Finishing
 Envelope style(top-right side up, back-right side down, batting and pin or baste – sew 3 sides and 2/3 of 4th side, leaving an opening – trim the batting close to seam, but not the fabric and turn the whole quilt right side out – hand sew the opening and tie every 4-5 inches apart)
Binding
 Purchase about ¾ yard of fabric