Sunday, March 22, 2009

A Successful Experiment

Color Block Quilt Close Up

My Color Block Quilt made from t-shirt scraps is quilted and bound. I love the way it turned out. I wish there was some way I could photograph the texture, or that you could reach through your screen and touch it. It is backed with a thick flannel sheet and the end product is super soft and cuddly. I think this would be a great gift quilt - perfect for going off to college or a first apartment. This particular version would be great for a guy, too.

See, cuddly:

Trying to show how soft it is

When making more traditional t-shirt quilts, I back the designs I want to use with featherweight fusible interfacing to stabilize them during construction. For this experiment I heavily starched the fabric instead of using interfacing. I was hoping that this would make the fabric manageable to piece with but, since when it was all finished it would wash out, the fabric would retain all its t-shirt character (I guess rinse away interfacing would be an option, too).

I also used fusible batting (scraps) - in this case it was a particularly apt application of the product, because it further immobilized the knit fabric to keep it from pulling around during quilting. Once washed and dried it does have a great texture, the jersey fabric stayed soft, and the top is flat. The flannel on the back actually moved around more than the knit during quilting, since I paid less attention to it (unfortunately). (As so often happens when machine quilting, the back is my least favorite part of this quilt.)

Color Block Quilt

It is 48"x60". A nice throw size. So long story short, I am pleased with the results of this experiment, and am already brainstorming the pattern for the remaining t-shirt scraps I have...still a lot. While you're waiting for that, you can hop over to see Michael's experiment with t-shirt fabric, and the other cool things he is doing with scraps.

3 comments:

Debra Dixon said...

Definitely love this T-shirt quilt! Very graphic! nice job!

Anonymous said...

The colours are lovely, alsmost Amish, and I can really imagine the cuddly part :)

Michael5000 said...

Heavily starched? Fusible batting? Oh crap, I missed the memo on the starching* and fusible batting. No wonder mind looks like limp rags sewn together while yours looks totally awesome.

I'd reach through the screen and touch it, but it always terrifies people when I use my paranormal abilities.

*This post has given me a clue as to what "starching" is all about. I'd wondered. That leaves "blueing" as the great sewing notion of mystery.

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