Thursday, April 5, 2012

For The Love of T-Shirts

What is it about t-shirts? Don't you love the feel of them? The smell of sun-drenched cotton? Cozying in one is the all-American comfort of home. (sigh) I even love my clean cotton candle in my bathroom.

Why wax nostalgic? I'm making a t-shirt quilt. Below is a pile of 12 - 14" t-shirt blocks waiting for the perfect sashing fabric.

Ok, so time to make an index card with little reminders:

  • Best to prep the shirts first assembly-line style. Wash them, iron them, fuse them, trim them.
  • When you take the shirts apart, trim off both the neckband and the waistband so the shirts don't pucker when fusing with interfacing.
  • After taking the shirts apart, fuse the interfacing to the back and THEN trim to size.
  • Use a non-stretch fusible interfacing like Pellon 906F.
  • Make sure interfacing is big enough to cover area because pieced interfacing shows.
  • As boring as it is, take your time pressing so the interfacing fuses properly.
  • Use a discarded t-shirt back as a pressing cloth - some iron ons will start to smear when over heated.
  • Careful! Press and not iron. If you iron in wrinkles, they are permanent!

Ok, back to my quilting.

Have you ever made a t-shirt quilt? Don't you just LOVE the feel of cotton?

Elisa

 

2 comments:

  1. As soon as I saw your picture I knew... having been there and done that... and have T-shirts waiting! Your pointers are great.
    My youngest son has a T-shirt quilt on his bed. My oldest son's quilt is still in pieces.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't wait to finish this. Have the urge to cut ALL my shirts apart - LOL

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