T-Shirt Quilt Tutorial #2

Decisions, Decisions......

 

No t-shirt quilt is alike!

T-shirts come in all shapes and sizes and sometimes

don't quite fit the cookie cutter mold that

a pattern would provide.

So that means you have some decisions to make!

And that is where we begin this little tutorial......

I start with my stack of freshly de-sleeved

and de-backed t-shirts and I place my 15" square

ruler on top of the design.

If the design fits I start a pile of shirts that will become 15" square.

This stack of shirts contain designs that

are 15" WIDE but obviously not 15" square.

I put these in a stack where 2 could be sewn together

to make a 15" square.

This stack contains all of those little emblems.

These could be sewn together in groups of four

to make a 15" block.

OR

They could be appliqued onto a larger block or even the border.

I'll make those decisions as the quilt is coming together.

My last stack is the tricky ones.........

Not 15" wide or  15" square.

These ones will have to be "built".

Luckily I only have 3 of these ones!

Stabalization!

This is the

KEY to SUCCESS

with any t-shirt quilt.

Since I am going to be cutting 15" squares I will

rough cut a 16" square and iron it onto the back of my t-shirt.

~A word about stabalizers~

I use the lightest weight stabalizer I can find.

I buy the $.99/yard type by the bolt at Joann's with a 50% coupon

Apply the stabalizer to the back of the shirt

using a hot iron.

~A word about hot irons and t-shirt emblems~

Many t-shirts have an emblem that will stick

to a hot iron and make a REAL MESS

both to the shirt and the iron.

So beware of sticky emblems on the front of the shirt

and STAY CLEAR OF THEM!

After stabalizing the shirt I cut each one into a 15" square.

Here is a stack of properly stabalized 15" square shirts.

There are 40 of them in this stack.

Also pictured is the little bits of leftover scraps

which will go into my charity dog beds

and the stack of wonderful rags!

Next time we will talk about how to handle

these odd sized shirts.

Happy quilting to all............

tammy