tee shirt quilt

[Katherine S.]

Can anyone tell me what interfacing to use on the back of the tee shirt for a tee shirt quilt? I saw one at a local quilt show one time and I can't remember what the woman who made it told me. I do remember she said it was important?????

[Jules M.]

I use a lightweight fusible on the back of shirts. I don't want to add a lot of bulk, just stabilize them until I get the top made.

Joann's sells a prepackage of 10 yds for not much $ and if you have a coupon or they are on sale, that is better. I just saw them the last time I was there. At my small store, the interfacing is on the end of the cutting table and these were in a box (on the floor, of course) near there.

Hope this helps!

[Katherine S.]

thanks, do you know the name of the fusible?

[Joan D.]

Katherine I use a fusible knit I fuse it to the t-shirt opposite to the way the shirt stretches, it remains soft Good Luck Joan

[Dawn S.]

I have heard from JaneAnne, who confirmed what Martha Deleonardis stated in her book T*SHIRT Quilts, that 911FF Pellon Fusible Featherweight is the way to go. It can be purchased at Joann's, where it is currently on sale at 50% off! Supposedly, this particular one is forgiving, if the directions are not followed perfectly. Others seem to get temperamental if you don't bond it just right.

Dawn
In beautiful Northwest Montana

[Katherine S.]

Wow Thanks! I'll go there tomorrow......Katherine from Richmond area VA

[Jules M.]

Yes, I didn't know the code numbers but I use Pellon Fusible Featherweight, too.

I have heard from JaneAnne, who confirmed what Martha Deleonardis stated in her book T*SHIRT Quilts, that 911FF Pellon Fusible Featherweight is the way to go. It can be purchased at Joann's, where it is currently on sale at 50% off! Supposedly, this particular one is forgiving, if the directions are not followed perfectly. Others seem to get temperamental if you don't bond it just right.

Dawn
In beautiful Northwest Montana

[Judy B.]

I made a king-size tee shirt quilt about ten years ago with NO fusible. :shock: The quilt is washed constantly due to dust allergies and
while the woven-fabric sashing is wearing out, the tee shirts are just fine. The sashing worked as a stabilizer while sewing the
top together. I will be making another quilt soon and don't plan to use fusible in this one either. I did make slightly wider seams (about
1/2 inch) and most of the tee shirts were fairly new.

[Judy B.]

Anybody tried the Margo stand-by of starch yet?

[Judy B.]

I made a king-size tee shirt quilt about ten years ago with NO fusible. :shock: The quilt is washed constantly due to dust allergies and
while the woven-fabric sashing is wearing out, the tee shirts are just fine. The sashing worked as a stabilizer while sewing the
top together. I will be making another quilt soon and don't plan to use fusible in this one either. I did make slightly wider seams (about
1/2 inch) and most of the tee shirts were fairly new.

I don't know if this is the same process, but I know that there is a book titled "Too Cool T-shirt Quilts" that has a process that doesn't use stabilizer. I just haven't bought it yet.

[Judy B.]

We use EK130 from Pellon it is not stiff at all works great

[Katherine S.]

Nancy from STL how did you quilt the tee shirt quilt you talk about in the forum where you didn't use stabilizer or backing????stitch in the ditch ????how large a block size did you use. I'm concerned about the stretching??? I would be grateful for any info you could tell me to clarify

[Judy B.]

I'm not Nancy, but what I used was a fairly good-sized meandering stipple stitch
over all of the blocks and sashing. This was early-on in my machine quilting
efforts -- not that I've done all that much since then -- :wink: but it worked
out quite nicely.

[Judy B.]

Nancy from STL how did you quilt the tee shirt quilt you talk about in the forum where you didn't use stabilizer or backing????stitch in the ditch ????how large a block size did you use. I'm concerned about the stretching??? I would be grateful for any info you could tell me to clarify

Forgive me for the late reply. I referred to a book titled "Too Cool T-shirt Quilts" that has a process that doesn't use stabilizer. To date, I haven't seen the book, so I'm not sure how the process works. I plan to get a copy of the book before I ever make a T-shirt quilt. However, now you can get fusibles that are nearly weightless and have a great drape, but they are probably expensive too and you'd need quite a bit for an entire quilt.

[Katherine S.]

Thanks Nancy, I finished the quilt I was making last week. It is made up of 30- 13.5" squares backed with pellon 911F. The fusible interfacing made it a breeze to sew them together but it is a little heavy so I pressed the seams open. I used warm&white batting and a cotton backing that her Mom picked out. It is a graduation gift for a High Schooler who is heading off to college in the Fall. They love it! I stitched in the ditch but since warm and natural calls for 10" quilting I free motioned around certain designs on each square using the color thread matching each tee because they were so amazing I didn't want to distract from them. For example one was a boat and crossed oars because she is on rowing team so I sewed around them. I was really happy with it and now my daughter is saving shirts for my Grandson who is a freshman so I can make him one eventually. I think I would look a little for a lighter interfacing but one thing is for sure. I believe the one I made will wear like iron!