How to Set up a Quilting Space How to Make a Shining Star Quilt How to Sew a Log Cabin Applique Tips for a Seamless Hand Applique How to Make Prepared and Non-Prepared Applique Prairie Point Quilting Borders 101 Tips for Sewing Quilt Rows How to Make a Traditional Mennonite Quilt Color Harmony in Quilting Hunter Star Quilt Piecing MethodsSome of you may have seen my tutorial on Suzannah’s fab blog Adventures in Dressmaking.  She is very creative, with recent posts devoted to ruffled shirts.  Her most recent post shows how to make a zig-zag rug like those that are all the rage.  She invited me to write a tutorial for her blog so I chose to show how to make a pillow from old t-shirts.  I make t-shirt quilts for my nieces and nephews as they graduate high school.  My son will be graduating this year so I will finally get a chance to clear out a few of the 40 or so t-shirts in his closet!  When I’m making the quilts, I use 12 t-shirt sides. 

Sometimes the kids can’t narrow down their favorites, so I make a pillow (or two) with the extras.  Today, I’ll share with you how to make a pillow based on my t-shirt quilt “block”. If you are not a sewer, I am also offering a made-to-order pillow on my Etsy shop here.  I hope you find the tutorial useful.  I’m off to “Chicago!” • 2 t-shirt sides, washed • 1 yard of fusible interfacing (Pellon 906F, 911FF) • 1/2 yard of fabric for border, washed • 18” pillow form • Use a t-shirt front and back or two separate t-shirts. • The border fabric can be a contrast or coordinating fabric. I have used polka-dots, tie-dye, and anything that does not have a directional pattern.  My pillow fabric is Oxygen from Contemporary Cloth. • Prewash the t-shirts and border fabric to preshrink them, especially if they are brand new. • It isn’t necessary to use an interfacing specifically designed for knits. The t-shirts will not need stretch for the pillow.

The interfacing is added for stability and ease of sewing.T-Shirts Sisley • Pillow forms are available in many sizes. What Is The Average Cost Of A Bath FitterIf you decide to make another size, you will want your completed square to be one inch larger than the pillow form. Jacuzzi Hot Tub 200 SeriesSo if you want to make a 16” pillow, then you will design the square to be 17” before sewing the two sides together. • When cutting the t-shirt into a square, I use an Omnigrid that has been custom cut to a 13 ¼” square template. You can make a cardboard template or simply measure and mark a square. 1. Rough cut square: The application of interfacing can cause the shirt to shrink so I cut a larger square than needed.

Place template over the desired area of the t-shirt. Cut the t-shirt out with an extra inch around the edges. 2. Cut Border Fabric Strips: Cut 4 strips 3 ½ x 13 ¼ Cut 4 strips 3 ½ x 19 ¼ 3. Apply interfacing: Apply the interfacing per the manufacturer’s instructions to the back side of the t-shirt. When I have large areas to fuse, I take an old plastic tub and fill it with water so that I can quickly dampen the hanky I use as my press cloth. Place the t-shirt on your ironing board with the logo side down. Then place the interfacing on, covered by a damp hanky. Fuse using a dry iron. When the hanky stops steaming, the fusing is typically complete. 4. Cut the T-Shirts to 13 1/4″ Square:  I use my Omnigrid to center the t-shirt design and cut using a rotary cutter. 5. Assemble and Sew Pillow Top and Bottom: Pin the shorter border pieces to the top and bottom of the t-shirt. Sew or serge using a ¼” seam. Press the stitching line and then press seams toward the border.

When pressing, especially from the right side, avoid pressing the t-shirt logo. Now pin the longer border pieces to the sides of the t-shirt. 5. Prepare the Squares for Sewing:  I use a handy tip from “Singer Sewing Step by Step” (what a steal that was!  I can’t believe I left the price tag on.) I modify the pillow squares to remove excess fabric in the corners. Fold the fabric into fourths. Mark a point halfway between the corner and the fold on each open side.  t the corner, mark a point 1/2″ from each raw edge. 6. Sew the Top to the Bottom: Pin and sew the two squares together using a ¼” seam allowance. Leave an opening in the bottom to insert the pillow form. I usually leave about 10” open. 8. Insert Pillow Form and Hand Sew Opening: Pin the opening closed and sew closed using a slip stitch.A Memory Quilt is a great way to re-purpose sentimental clothing. You can use really anything including t-shirts, jackets, pants, tops or childrens wear. Your first step is to think about what you want this quilt to commemorate- a graduation, childhood, a lost family member?

Sort through the clothing and select several pieces to use- look for a similar theme or color scheme. There is no “right way” or “wrong way” to make your quilt. This is purely a guide to assist you in creating your own unique memory quilt. There are no specific measurements given, as each quilt will vary. T- shirts: 12-16 shirts minimum Adult clothing: 4-6 pieces minimum Child clothing: 8-12 pieces minimum Infant/toddler clothing: 12-20 pieces minimum *it’s better to have more pieces and edit out what you don’t want Fusible Stabilizer: for any materials that are made of jersey/knit, rayon, silk or other lightweight fabric. The stabilizer will help keep the shape of your squares and prevent shifting, bunching or puckering when you sew. There are tons of options for stabilizer, bit I prefer Pellon SF101 Woven Stabilizer for this project. Tip- When you cut out the stabilizer squares, you can use the remnants- just line them up and iron on. Batting : you can purchase pre-packaged or by-the-yard batting.

It comes in a variety of loft, and blends- for this project I recommend a “crib size” (45” x 60”) or Twin Size pre-packaged batting that is a thin loft of cotton/poly blend. You can also use a layer of flannel or fleece fabric as your batting.Backer Fabric: you can use any type fabric for the back side of the quilt. “Quilting weight” cotton fabrics work well because they are typically a standard 45” wide which happens to be the same width of the crib size batting. If you are making a larger size quilt, you may have to sew 2 pieces of backer fabric together to equal the correct width. Flannel or fleece also works well. Buy equal length/width backer fabric as your batting layer. Embroidery Thread: also called DMC Floss, this will need to coordinate with colors of the quilt. Rotary Cutting System (or you can make a paper template for tracing your squares) Before you start cutting up your clothes, think about what you want this quilt to look like. Are all the squares the same size?

Are they large, small? Are there rectangles and squares? The possibilities are endless. But you need to think about the overall design so you have a mental guide before you start cutting.I like to cut the sleeves off shirts first, and then cut along the seams (or the sides), and then the collar to get individual panels of fabric to work with. T-shirts can yield front and back panels. Long sleeve shirts can yield front, back, plus 2 thinner sleeve panels (good for smaller squares). Pants- I cut along the inner seam and open up the leg, skirts cut on one side and open up.Be creative and don’t be afraid to include decorative trims like pockets, embellished seaming or buttons. Sort them by size and decide which pieces you want to use.Step 3: Iron on the fusible stabilizer (according to the manufacturer’s directions) to the back side of any pieces that need it. T-shirts (knits), silk, jersey and rayon should all be stabilized. Men’s dress shirts, and similar weight fabrics do not need to be stabilized, but give them a quick press to get out any wrinkles.

Make sure your pieces will accommodate this size. It’s best to use a rotary cutting system for this but you can also make paper templates to trace around. 10" x 10" - 12” x 12” squares are good for t-shirts, but don’t be intimidated to cut smaller squares so you can mix/match.Basically any size square between 6” – 12” is ideal. If you are going to piece smaller squares together to make a larger square, make sure you add extra seam allowance. For example, your squares are 12” x 12” but you want to make a 12” square panel out of 4 smaller squares. Each smaller square should be 6.25” x 6.25”, so when you sew them together (with a 1/4“ seam allowance) the final piece will equal 12” x 12”. You may need to do a little math to figure it all out.Step 5: Lay out your squares. Find a large flat surface (floor, dining room table, etc.) and start laying out your pieces. It might take a few tries to get everything matched up, but once you are happy with the layout TAKE A PICTURE.

(Even if it’s a poor quality picture with your camera phone.) This will be a helpful reference if the pieces get out of order when sewing, or if you have to store the project while you are working on it.Step 6: Sew the squares. Working across one row at a time, pin the squares together. You can do one square at a time, or pin all the squares in an entire row at once…whatever you are most comfortable with. Use a 3/8” seam allowance.Once you have a row sewn, press the seams (either open or to the left or right- whatever works best for you). Step 7: Sew the rows. Working from top to bottom (or bottom to top) -take one row and pin to the next row. When pinning it’s best to start in the center and work your way out lining up the seams as you go. This will give you nice, aligned corners once all the pieces are sewn together. Once all the rows are sewn together, press the seams. Lay the batting down on your large flat surface and do your best to smooth it out. Lay the quilted squares front panel on top – SO THE RIGHT SIDE IS FACING YOU (and the wrong side is facing the batting).

Take your large safety pins and pin every 6” to 10” through the top panel AND the batting layer. This will help prevent shifting. Trim away any excess batting from the edges. Step 9: Backer fabric. Lay your backer fabric FACE DOWN (so right side of backer fabric and right side of quilted squares are facing) and pin all around perimeter. Trim away any excess fabric. Step 10: Sewing and Quick-turning. Sew along the perimeter of your quilt, with a 3/8” seam allowance; leave an opening of around 8” – 10” on one edge. If you are making a quilt larger than 45” x 60” leave a slightly larger opening. After the perimeter is sewn, cut the excess fabric from the corners. Removing the fabric here will aid in getting nice “pointy” corners. Be sure that you DO NOT cut through the stitching. Make sure you have removed all the straight pins from perimeter. Put your hand through the opening and turn the quilt “right side out”. Poke your finger in each corner to push the corners out.

You might also want to run your hand along the inside of the quilt along the seams to get everything straight and lined up. Step 11: Press and top-stitch. Pressing at this step is completely optional but I think it makes topstitching easier. Press the edges along the entire perimeter of the quilt. Fold in the fabric along the opening and pin closed. Using a coordinating color thread, topstitch along the entire perimeter of the quilt, making sure you “catch” the opening and sew it closed. A topstitch should be around 1/4” to 3/8” from the edge. Step 12: Hand tying. You will use a coordinating color embroidery thread and a needle for this step. Decide if you want the “ties” to show on the front side of the quilt or the back side. (I prefer the back). At regular intervals (typically at the corners of each square, but around every 6” or so) you want to sew up and down through all 3 layers and make a double or triple knot. Trim the ends so they are about 1” long. Repeat this until the entire quilt is tied.