Are you ready to finish this T-shirt quilt? Assuming, you have all your tee shirts out and have studied them and you know your block sizes, you can now decide where you want to place them. This is what people call the layout phase.Now wash all the music tee shirts, if not previously worn you may want to wash them twice. Take the side seams apart or if they were knit in the round you can slice one side and remove sleeves. Remember to save all the image areas if you t-shirt has small logos on the sleeves or anywhere else.

Now you need to iron the fusing to the back of each T-shirt piece. You might need to pre-shrink the fusible. Cut the fusible interfacing about 2 inches larger than the size of your unsown blocks. You may want to use a 1/2 inch seam allowance for your cool tee shirt blocks rather than the traditional 1/4″ of quilting to make sturdier seams. Following fusible manufacturer’s advice, fuse the interfacing to the tee shirt sections you plan to use.

If all your blocks are to be the same size, you will find it convenient to make a template from cardboard, mat board or plastic template material. If you are a quilter with a rotary cutter, this is definitely the tool to use. Cut using a long acrylic rotary ruler and a mat. If using scissors, trace your template and cut. When cutting the sashing and borders remember to leave 1/2 inch seam allowance if you choose to have extra. Thus a 3-inch sashing finished sewn size will mean you should cut a 4-inch wide strip. If you are going to have blocks that are of various sizes and shapes, it would be best to use scissors for easier control. For the non-experienced quilter, it is recommended that you put borders on these odd shaped pieces so that they are either in a rectangle for a square shape. This will make it easier for you to sew them together.

If all your blocks are one size you can go directly to arranging their order. But, if you are using different shapes of tee shirt images to make larger blocks, like in a 4 patch block, sew those first. Then clear off a place on the floor, a bed top or hang a big flannel sheet or batting on the wall to arrange your blocks. Do not worry, the material will stick to the flannel.

Now you can begin selling in earnest. Sew the blocks in rows, either horizontal or vertical inserting sashing pieces (if desired) as you go. Then the rows together and add the borders. Now borders can be connected at the corners in two different ways, miter and straight. Straight is the easiest way to attach a border. Measure your quilt, either length or width. Now sew either length or the width borders into place. Now measure in the other direction, after the two side borders are in place. You are now ready to put the final two borders on your quilt.

A miter corner is a little more difficult. You MUST measure your quilt across the centers to get an accurate measurement for the borders. If you measure around the edges, which may be stretched, you will have rippled borders. Add the length of the center, add the width of the strips twice, and then add several inches for extra measure. If your border width is 3″ you would add 6″. Sew each border into place corner to corner only. Do not sew beyond the corner. Grab the end of the top border strip and fold it under and around so that the sides align with the strip under it. This is why you want extra fabric in the length, otherwise, you would not have enough extra to align. Fold the quilt on the diagonal and smooth out the strips so they lay flat and the sides are aligned. You want to be sure that the top and under seams of the strips are pushed toward the quilt. Make sure the two borders meet with your fingers to make sure the fabrics are snug in the corner and one seam is not higher than the other. Pull it, tug it, squiggle it… make it snug. This is probably the most critical step for a good miter!! You will start to sew right where you stopped stitching on the border. Now you will start to sew on the quilt side 1/4″ in from the right edge. Remember, EXACTLY where the stitching is! Do not sew into the seam allowance or your miter will not lay right. Backstage at couple stitches to walk your stitch in place. When you get to the bottom edge, you will stop sewing EXACTLY where the stitching is. Do NOT sew into the seam allowance. Before you get to the end seam, put your fingers in there to make sure the seam is flat. Like I said this is the most difficult corner to do.

Let’s get this quilt finished. Find someplace where you can lead your quilt flat. Many quilters use the floor. Just make sure you have swept and mopped first. You need to layer the top with backing and batting and begin to quilt. Of course, depending on how heavy your quilt is you may decide not to use batting. You may want to finish this tee shirt quilt in the “reversed bag method” which is especially easy for a tied quilt. Layer the parts by putting the top of the quilt right side UP and tape to the floor or tables with masking tape evenly around all edges, then put the backing fabric right side DOWN against the top (ie. the two right sides are together), then, if you’re going to use batting, place the batting on top. Pin or baste to hold the edges together. Sew around 3 full sides and 2/3 of the 4th side leaving an opening with a 1/2 inch seam. Trim the batting close to the seam, but don’t trim the fabrics and turn the whole quilt right side out. Hand sew the 1/3 opening on the 4th side. Tie closely every 4-5 inches or quilt the quilt.

Now, if you do not wish to use the “reversed bag method”, which is the easiest way, you would lay your quilt top right side DOWN, batting right side DOWN and your backing right side UP. Starting in the center of your quilt slowly smooth out the center in a circular motion. Place a quilter’s pin or a safety pin in the center of your quilt. Now working in a grid fashion, place a pin every 4-5 inches in each direction, smoothing the fabric as you go, and continue until you reach the edges. Now you can either tie closely at every pin or you can quilt the quilt.

That is it you are done!! Enjoy your new quilt!

In part one of how to make T-shirt quilt we discussed what you would need besides music T-shirts. Now we will discuss each of those items individually.

Interfacing — There are many brands of interfacing. Look for a woven type or a nonwoven that is not stretchy. So do not use a knit interfacing because it is stretchy. Because you are using the interfacing to make the tee fabric non-stretchy to make selling it easier. Read the directions from the manufacturer and test on a plain piece of tee shirt knit fabric because some interfacing needs to be pre-shrunk with water to avoid bubbles on the surface after fusing.

Cotton Fabrics — You will be using regular quilting cotton or woven cotton for the sashing and borders of your quilt. You want the stability of woven cotton. You do not need to use a sashing but if you want to frame each of the blocks pick a fabric that will complement them. Otherwise, you can sew the blocks directly to each other.

Batting — Here is where you will need to make a couple of decisions. You need is decide how you are going to “quilt” your final project. You can choose to tie your T-shirt quilt or you can machine quilt your finished project. Polyester batting with loft is fun if you are going to tie your cool tee shirt quilt. But a cotton batting or blend is better for a machine-quilted project. If you want a lightweight quilt you could leave the batting out altogether.

Backing — You can use tee shirts pieced on both sides if you have a lot of them. If not, a plain cotton backing used with batting is great. Or if you are not using batting you could use a flannel or polarguard backing that is very cozy.

Now you need to prepare everything for your sewing experience. You will need to do the following:

1. Layout.
2. Washing and cutting.
3. Fusing.
4. Trimming fused tee shirts.
5. Arranging blocks.
6. Sewing.
7. Finishing.

Check back for part 3 to complete your quilt next month.

Everyone has a collection of t-shirts they cannot bear to throw away because they hold memories. These memories can be passed on by making a tee shirt quilt for family or friends. Beginning quilters will have no problem making a tee shirt quilt.

Your tee shirt quilt can be any size. For Example, a cozy lap quilt for the couch or a full sized bed quilt. If you have a lot of tee shirts you can make every block from a T-shirt, but if you have only a cute T-shirts you can put plain fabric in some blocks or use pattern blocks. Tee shirt with hands quilting on front. The plain fabric can be cotton woven fabric or unprinted areas of cotton knit from your tee shirts.

If you have enough you can even sort them into categories. Music tee shirts that are of concerts or T-shirts of your favorite singers. Cool T-shirts that have funny sayings or cartoon characters. Graffiti tee shirts that have images of the beautiful graffiti that has been created in many neighborhoods across the country.

Pull out all the tee shirts you want to use. Sort them by category and size of the images on the shirts. Do not forget there are smaller logos and designs on the back and sleeves that you might also want to use as well. Roughly measure the sizes and make a list of the height and width of the designs you have chosen. Remember to leave at least 2-3 inches around the edges of the printed logo or design for sewing.

You may have a range from 4 x 5 inches up to 12 x 15 inches for each square. Smaller images and children’s designs will fall in the middle somewhere.

Things you will need for your T-shirt quilt:

• Tee shirts.
• Interfacing.
• Woven cotton fabric for sashing and borders.
• Fabric for backing.
• Batting.

We are not done yet, stay tuned for part 2 and 3!