Need opinion on making T-Shirt quilt

I will be making a T-Shirt quilt for my DS and the blocks needs to be 18" square to get all the designs in the blocks. That would make a very big quilt since I have quite a few shirts he wants included. I thought about making it double sided to use most if not all the blocks. Would that be too heavy? We live in Florida and someone suggested it would be too heavy for here if made double sided. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Karen

I've made four tshirt quilts...two of which are double sided....same thing....had to get a lot of tshirts in.

The double sided are heavy...we live in Houston...a lot like Florida. I did them throw size.....not bed size, so that helps. I put the thinnest poly batting I could find inbetween them....you could even use a sheet I'm thinking. I wanted to be sure the colors didn't come thru, so seems to have worked fine. Had my sons (and friend) pick which side was to be the "dominant" or front, and I used that one as the quilt guide. I stitched in the ditch....used nylon thread on top and white on bottom. On the large sections, I used my small round eyelet stitch every so often to anchor the fabric without destroying the design.





Here's pics of the front and back of one of them...my oldest son's. The colored side was the "dominant" one. If you want, I can post pics of the others. Hope that helps!

SSA here's one I did.

Love love the piano key border....really makes it pop.

Thanks ladies. The quilts are very nice. I love the piano key border too but don't think it would go well with the shirts. But I might try it. I think I have to ask DS to narrow the choice down to his most favorite shirts and go with that. He is a military aviation fan, the older the planes, the better. He works for a company that does restoration on planes for museums. Lots of shirts from air shows, etc. I have a print of warbirds that I want to use for borders.

DH is buying me an 18.5" plexiglass piece tonight that I can use to cut out the designs. I don't even know if I could find a regular quilting square up ruler in the right size and this will be cheaper anyway. I'll mark it myself with the center and sides, etc. that I would need to center the blocks.

Karen

1. Not all blocks have to be the same. That may allow you to get more in. You might need a few small spacer units between. I suspect many of the T shirts will have much smaller design areas.

2. IMHO, a T shirt quilt might be less than wonderful against the skin. Consider making 2, rather than double sided.

3. Is this going to be judged? If not, there is no real need for multiple layers. If you want a center layer, consider a flannel (or other) sheet. Traditionally, "Summer quilts" are only 2 layers.

Don't you have to put some sort of stabilizer on the back of the shirts to keep them from being so stretchy? (I have never made one but Cassie wants one made of her 4 H tshirts so I am following this thread with interest.)

Yes, You use iron-on pellon (sp?) to stabilize the designs on the shirts. The pellon I purchased is light weight since I didn't want to add too much weight to the quilt. Anxious to get started. DH found some plexiglas but only found in 18" not 18.5" so he had to get bigger and will cut it down for me on Thursday. I watched online videos on assembling the top and one that was pretty extensive was at http://www.quiltaddictsanonymous.com She prepared the video in 8 or 9 segments. Not professional in presentation but lots of good info. Missouri Quilt Co also had one on making a quilt with t-shirts. Check out YouTube for videos

Karen

Yes.....I use the iron on stabilizer.....actually use the cheap stuff from Joanns.....sometimes on sale for .99 a yard. That's the BIGGEST pain of making tshirt quilts....ironing that on.....put on a girlie movie and turn on the ceiling fan and get ready cause it takes FOREVER and you get really hot.....no flashes needed...lol. But....they are neat.

I was asked if I could do one by the end of October for a co-worker. I declined. I have too many other projects. I had already told a favorite cousin that I could not get 2 done for her kids by the Christmas. I told her I could by Christmas of 2013. Me making them was more important than getting them done by this year, so I'll put that on my list.

I looked on www.etsy.com for ideas. I just did a search on that site for "T shirt quilts". They had some really good ideas.