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Tips and Techniques

Making A T-Shirt Quilt 

In the fall our kids return to high school or college and resume all their activities. In every activity it seems they get a T-shirt! Turning those T-shirts into a quilt makes a great memory gift for your kids.

The first step is to back the T-shirts with a woven interfacing that you can obtain at your local quilt store. This gives the knit fabric the body required for quilting. Once you iron on the woven interfacing, which has a heat-activated adhesive back and comes in white, grey, or black, cut the T-shirt to the desired size. Most people choose to make 12 inch blocks. Use a good quality woven cotton for the sashing and corner stones. When making your borders, don’t forget to average the width and length of your finished top to get the correct border size.

These are wonderful quilts to have custom quilted, especially if there is a theme to all the T-shirts. I have quilted a megaphone on a cheerleader’s quilt and oars on a rowing team shirt. There are lots of fun patterns that can be quilted, and the resultant quilt is one that will always be cherished by the person who received it.

If you would like more detailed instructions check out this link.

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