Making T-Shirt Quilt

Use your old T-shirt collection to make a one-of-a-kind quilt.

All About

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Before you start:

Prewash all T-shirts, but don't use softener on them. The T-shirt fabric will not adhere to the fusible interfacing when softener is used.
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You'll need 100 percent cotton fabric for the sashing and backing.
Fusible interfacing needs to be non-woven, glued only on one side and should not be paper-backed. Paper-backed interfacing usually means that both sides are glue-based.
You'll also need a clear plastic template cut to the desired size your T-shirt panels will be.

Figure A

Steps:

Place the clear plastic template on the T-shirt over the panel and make a rough cut around the template (figure A). Cut a piece of fusible interfacing the same size.
Turn the T-shirt over so the panel is facing the table and place the interfacing on the T-shirt.
Next, place a damp cloth over the interfacing and iron according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Place the T-shirt on a rotary mat and trim to desired size of T-shirt block adding 1/2-inch for seam allowances. Ours were cut at 12 1/2 inches.

Figure C

Repeat the above steps for all T-shirts, then lay out design (figure C).

The sashing that goes in between the T-shirt blocks measures 12 1/2" x 2". The cornerstones are two-inch squares. Attach these to the quilt.

Figure D

It is best to tie a T-shirt quilt, but machine quilting is also acceptable (figure D). It's not recommended that you hand-quilt. It's very hard for the needle to get in between the fibers of the T-shirt dyes and motifs.

Resources

Products
- quilt pattern packet - T-shirt quilt
Guests
- Linda Long
  Creator and owner of T-Quilts
  Lake Wylie, SC
  Phone: 803-831-9329
  E-mail: lindalong@comporium.net
  Website: tquilts.com