Tee Shirt Quilt

Dont know what to do with all those old tees? Dont want to throw out the memories? Make your kids a tee shirt quilt.

1. PREPARE SHIRTS: cut out the part of the shirt you want to save and iron on some iron-on interfacing. This will stabilze the shirt design so it doesnt stretch when you try to sew it. This step really helps unexperienced sewers manage the quilt squares. I recommend that you make all your squares the SAME size.

2.LAY OUT QUILT: Either use your guest bed or a floor where no one will walk (I use a design wall...a flannel-backed tablecloth hanging on the wall, flannel side out. You can "stick" the quilt squares to it just by rubbing them). Lay out your square in a design that is pleasing to you.

3. CUT OUT "SASHING": sashing is the fabric or grid that lies inbetween each quilt square. An easy way to make this quilt is to just cut out long strips of a solid color cotton or cotton blend. I do this by folding the 44 inch fabric so it's 22 inches, then cutting strips with a rotary cutter and mat. You could do it with scissors, too. I recommend cutting your sashing strips 4 inches wide. (When you sew them, they will end up 3 1/2 inches).

4. GO TO YOUR QUILT LAYOUT: take your long sashing strips and lay one along side a quilt square, and cut the sash the same length as the square or rectangle. For the top row of squares, sew a sash on the right side of the first square, then sew the next square onto the right side of the sash. Continue this all the way across the row but DO NOT sew a sash to the right side of the last square! REPEAT FOR EACH ROW.

5.CUT LONG SASHING STRIPS: cut strips that will be sewn across the top of each row. You may have to sew 2 strips together, end-to-end, to be long enough. You will also need an extra one to sew across the bottom of the bottom row (so it matches the top).

6:SEW LONG SASHES TO THE TOP OF EACH ROW plus the one for the bottom row.

7:SEW ALL ROWS TOGETHER.

8.CUT A PIECE OF FLANNEL OR A QUILT BATT THE SIZE OF YOUR QUILT TOP.

9.CUT A PIECE OF FABRIC FOR THE BACK. IF IT ISNT WIDE ENOUGH, SEW 2 PIECES OF FABRIC TOGETHER.

10.LAYER THE 3 PIECES TOGETHER ON A FLAT SURFACE..A FLOOR OR LARGE TABLE, AND PIN EVERY 4-5 INCHES WITH LARGE SAFETY PINS.

11.SEW THE GRID:Sew "in the ditch" along all the seam lines to "quilt" the quilt.

12.MAKE AND SEW BINDING around the edges of your quilt. If you don't know how to do this, consult a basic quilting book from the library.

I would recommend that you only make a small quilt...a lap size. Large quilts are pretty difficult to manage when quilting them on a home sewing machine.

I hope these directions are understandable. I am always having people ask me "Do you make tee shirt quilts". Give one a try...you can do it! Respectfully yours, susi soler