Wednesday, February 19, 2014

A T-Shirt Quilt!


We were given some t-shirts from church to use for the quilt ministry- 4 tubs full!  5 of my children volunteer or go to the Children's Church and camp where these t-shirts came from so most of them are very familiar to us.  My oldest daughter wanted to make a quilt for the Children's Pastor's wife because she has been involved with this ministry for years.  So what is one to do?  Scour the internet for directions!
  

I read many sites but the one I found most helpful was Quilting in the Bunk House.  The steps are pretty easy.  Make sure you decide on your block size and layout before you cut.  I wanted them all the same size so I went with a 14 in finished block.  Then you iron on the pellon fusible interfacing being careful not to get any glue on your iron or your ironing board. Add your sashing (I used 2.5 strips) and your top should be done! 


I was worried that the pellon would make the quilt stiff, but after I quilted and washed it, it was fine.  Make sure you quilt slowly, especially over the logos.  If you go to fast you can get a pucker on the top of the t-shirt too.  I did that once at the start, but realized it was because I was trying to go too fast.


I quilted a loose meander in a medium blue color.  I was going to use a brown gray thread, but Lindsay wanted the blue.  It was just a little brighter than the gray.



Fleece was used for the back, and I used batting too.  It's a very warm quilt and somewhat heavy too.  But the back is so soft and snuggley.


I was really worried at many points during this process that I was going to ruin the quilt!  But I didn't and it turns out that it really wasn't that hard to do. Now I have to start on the ones that are going to be donated to the kids!  Those quilts will be half the size of this one.  This one is 50 x 66 and used 8 t-shirts.  Some where 2 sided.


Just in case you are wondering why there is an "S" on one of the blocks, it was for Super Hero and was the theme at camp one year. 

Linking up with:

3 comments:

  1. What a great gift for your Children's Pastor's wife. She will be thrilled! As will the kids who will be receiving the other quilts. These quilts will be full of happy memories.

    I haven't tried backing a quilt with fleece, good to know that it didn't give you any grief.

    Thanks for sharing the link.

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  2. Love it. I have made many t-shirt quilts over the years and slowing down is the hard part for me as well.

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  3. cool! I've never done a T-shirt quilt before!

    I'm so glad you shared at Needle and Thread Thursday!

    :) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

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