You could say that 2023 is the year of the T-Shirt quilt. Recently, I was commissioned to create 2 quilts for two special grandsons.
Brandon T-Shirt quilt had some design challenges but turned out wonderfully.
This quilt consisted of 12 T-shirts and some pretty grey backing/sashing fabric that I provided.
Quilt Design
The design of this quilt is very simple. I tend to allow the T-shirts to steal the show.
The first challenge was the top row. Most of these blocks were cut 12.5 x 12.5 inches but the middle top block was too wide. For this, we kept the height the same but designed the 3 top blocks to have different widths. This allows all rows to be the same width overall.
The second challenge was another block that was too wide, but it was also made from a mesh fabric. The finished block worked out well.
I meant to mention that these grandsons had been collecting t-shirts for a while. The last real challenge is a very old t-shirt that did not fit the 12.5 x 12.5 template.
There is a fix for this! Instead of cutting the shirt up the sides, you need to cut it up the back. This leaves a large area to work with. Yes, you may need to incorporate the under arm section a little, but it is a small price to pay to use the shirt.
Below are images of the process:
E2E Quilting
For this quilt, we used Silver Glide thread and a baseball-themed E2E Pattern.
Because the blocks are so large, it is very important to have good coverage with the quilting. This pattern fits the bill.
Quilt Back and Label
The grey fabric used throughout has just enough texture. This means you need to be close to see the quilting pattern.
I love it when a label has a message. The client wanted to use a baseball bat on the label, but none of the designs in my library really worked. Instead, I found a piece of open-source clip art and created a simple bat to add to this label.
There is a lot that goes into working with different fabrics like this. If you take your time, it can turn out beautifully.
Quilt Stats:
Quilt Name: Brandon T-Shirt Quilt
Quilt Size:44 x 58
E2E Quilting Pattern: Baseball Meander
Thread: Silver Glide
Batting: Warm and Natural 80/20
If you want to see more projects
- Visit the Blog Page on my Website
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