T-shirt Quilt Finished…

Finish #14 – T-shirt QuiltBound and labeled in time for hubbies birthday.

It includes 4 race photos of him crossing the finish line scanned to fabric and bordered with t-shirt parts. Extra shirts were added to the backing.

Front

Back

How I made My T-shirt Quilt

Let me start by saying this wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.

Step 1 - Wash and dry the t-shirts. Make sure there are no stains or tears on the parts that you want to use.
Step 2 - Separate the front from backs and remove the sleeves.
Step 3 - Press shirts if needed.
Step 4 -  Determine what size finished block you want. Add 1 1/2 inches to all sides (1/2 inch for seam allowance and 1 inch for squaring up). If the space is tight you can add less for squaring up but do leave some extra fabric. Center this block over the design you want to use and cut it out.
Step 5 - Back all t-shirt blocks with a light weight fusible such as Pellon P44F to keep them from stretching. Use one solid piece of interfacing. Pieced interfacing will show through the shirt and look bad.
Step 6 - Calculate your finished block size plus 1 inch for the seam allowances. I used a 1/2 inch seam allowance so the seams would be sturdier and lie flatter. Centering the design area, trim your blocks to this finished size.
Step 7 - Lay out your blocks and take a look at your quilt. When you are happy with the layout sew the blocks into rows. Then sew the rows together.
Step 8 - Add any border fabric that you wish. I did not use sashing between the blocks. I sewed t-shirt to t-shirt and pressed the seams open.
Note:  I learned the hard way that it’s best not to use t-shirts on the back of the quilt. It is really hard to quilt through the seams even with a long arm machine. Hitting the intersection area of 4 blocks broke needles.