Process
What is a t-shirt quilt?
Very simply, a t-shirt quilt is a collection of your favorite shirts turned into a warm and decorative quilt. It is one of the best ways to keep the memories behind those shirts alive and constantly visible.
The Creation Process
Your quilt is constructed in 3 layers, like a grilled cheese sandwich. The top and backing are like the top and bottom of a sandwich–the bread. The batting is the filling or middle layer like the cheese or filling on your sandwich.
Our quilts are reversible. So the top can be the bottom and the bottom can be the top.
All About Blocks
In t-shirt quilting, a block is a square or rectangle that usually contains at least one t-shirt. Lots of blocks joined together make a big square or rectangle which becomes your quilt. One quilt can have many or very few blocks.
Each block can have many or few pieces. In the blue quilt shown there are 16 blocks (the white squares) If the white square represents one t-shirt then each block would consist of 1 piece which would be the t-shirt.
A block (square) can also contain several pieces like these on the left which are called half-square triangles. See if you can identify them in this brightly-colored quilt. The middle picture makes one of the 12 blocks in the quilt. Each of the 12 blocks is made up of 29 pieces. The entire quilt has 428 pieces
So, as you can see, all blocks are not created equal. They can be the same, but each one can also be very different.
Quiz Answers:
Bird 2; Varsity 5; Tiger 5; Bike Ride 27; Dog Days 78
All About the Layers
The image to the left shows the layout of the top (front) portion of a Blocky quilt. The three items listed below may comprise the front of your quilt.
T-Shirt
Each Block or square on the top layer contains the artwork from a t-shirt (T).
Sashing
The fabric around your shirts
Border
The outer layer that goes all the way around the outside of the quilt.
Backing
The back of the quilt not always visible unless it’s turned over. Fabric called “wide backs” are ideal for most quilts as they cover the entire back of your quilt without having to add a seam. We can also custom create a back to your liking. The back should look as good as the front!
Batting
Batting is stuffing; this goes in the middle of the sandwich. It is either wool, cotton, polyester or a blend of the two not more than ¼” thick. Batting adds warmth and helps to define the quilting.
Quilting
Quilting is the stitching that holds all 3 layers together. It is quilted from the top through all layers on a special long-arm quilting machine. It shows through to the back in the quilting design that you like. Quilting makes it a quilt! You’ll choose the stitch pattern design that you like for your quilting. Learn more about quilting designs here .
Now let’s consider what items you’d like to include in your quilt.
