Done done done done done!

This out of my usual wheel house project is now done. T-shirt quilts are pretty ubiquitous in the world of quilting. Usually they are of the stuff in a grid format. If you look at any sewing or quilting catalog you can buy directions for a t- shirt quilt.

I had begun my sewing life by making quilts.  I have done more than my share of class quilts for my kids’ various schools. For several years I had also made chuppot  made out of squares of stuff donated by family members. I have made lots of quilts that are things arranged in a grid. I hit my limit and resolved to never do another grid based quilt.

I constructed this throw in three long strips. Each strip was a different shirting fabric backed with a layer of cotton flannel. getting all of the shirt bits to work together was a fun challenge. I had to make the rhythm of each strip work both on it’s own as well as in relation to it’s two neighbors. Each of the t-shirt bits was sewn with a wide zig zag stitch. I liked the idea of a t-shirt quilt made on a shirting base.

 

 

After I finished each strip I added the backing fabric and then served up the outer perimeter of each long strip. I stitched the three strips together with the raw seams turned to the face of the quilt.  I had to figure out how to cover the raw ends. I purchased a shirting online and once it arrived hated how it looked with the quilt. I then sewed strips of the shirtings together made a long( 9 yard) bias strip about 3 inches wide.

I used the striped bias strip to cover the seams. I then top stitched with a a red multi-part zig zag stitch. A really large number of the t-shirts were red. This subtle detail made the piece hang together better.

My last problem was finding the right fabric for the binding. I had thought that a blue and white seersucker would be perfect. unfortunately, I wasn’t ale to find any that I liked in the garment district. this is where having a fabric stash comes in handy. I had purchased a heavy weight cotton plaid from www.fabricmartfabrics.com  on a whim. I had thought I would make a sleeveless sheath dress out of it.

The plaid had all of the colors in the shirtings I had used in the quilt.

Making bias bindings used to terrify me. But sometimes I can just get into a groove and turn into a wild bias binding maker.

The heavy weight plaid cotton was nice to work with. it had a nice weighty hand. The fact that it is such a durable fabric makes it perfect for the area of the quilt that will get the most wear.

 

This quilt was heavy. I had to take frequent breaks to rest my arms.

It was nice revisiting the sort of project I haven’t done in a long , long time.