T-Shirt Quilt Tutorial 3

So far in this t-shirt quilt journey we have

been dealing with t-shirts that have an emblem that is the same size.

What do you do with those t-shirts that are much smaller than the others?

There are numerous way to use these shirts........

I'll be showing you one method that I use.

Three of the 50+ shirts I have for this quilt

are smaller than a 15" square

I also had a big stack of those little emblems

that you find on the front of a shirt.

So here is one of the ways I use these smaller emblems

and bring them up to a 15" size:

Remember the stack of unused shirt backs?

I take and stabalize them with interfacing

and cut them into 15" squares.

I then stabalize the smaller emblems

and cut them into a smaller square or other shape

and place them onto the stabalized 15" square.

You may be tempted to skip stabalizing the

smaller shapes but DON'T DO IT!

You will have a hard time when you applique those

shapes onto the 15" square.

I place the shapes that will be appliqued onto the 15" square

and use a water soluable glue to keep the

shapes in place

while I am sewing them down.

Hint: place a SMALL amount of glue

on the back of the shape,

(thin line or small dots in corners)

press by hand in place and

then quickly press with an iron to meld.

You could use a fusible web, but I find that these

squares are already pretty heavy from the

weight of the shirt plus the stabalizer so

why add more?

If you have one of those machines that have a variety of applique stitches

then you have alot of choices to pick from.

I used a simple zig zag stitch on some of these shapes,

but my favorite is the blanket stitch which

was used on most of them.

Now these squares are ready to be placed in the body of the quilt.

Check back next time when we will be designing the quilt top

and sewing it all together.

tammy

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