There is a misconception, especially among non-quilters, who think all you need to make a T-Shirt quilt is a stack of T-Shirts. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
If you have already been sewing or quilting, you probably already have a lot of these items, but some are project specific and will be used up when you make the quilt. Here are the biggies:
T-Shirt Quilt Pattern – Obviously you are going to need instructions, and that’s where a pattern comes in. We’ve already done all the math for you and figured out how much fabric you need and how many components you need for each step for four different quilt sizes. It will save you a ton of time, and seam ripping, to just grab a pattern.
Fabric for the sashing, cornerstones, binding and backing – We’ll cover picking fabric in the next video, be we recommend going with a blender. That’s a quilting cotton print that usually only contains one or two colors and reads as a solid from a distance.
T-Shirt Quilt Interfacing – There’s so many interfacing options out there, and they all have different purposes. We use the Fusible Woven Weft Interfacing from Staple Sewing Aids for all of our T-Shirt Quilts to keep the T-Shirts from stretching while sewing. It has fusible glue applied to one side of a lightweight cotton fabric, which makes it much easier to work with than non-woven interfacing. Plus at 45-inches wide, you can easily get three full 12.5-inch squares, plus a 6.5″ piece from each width of fabric.
Appliqué Pressing Sheet – This is a critical must have tool when making a T-Shirt Quilt. You want to use it any time you are ironing by placing the pressing sheet on top of the T-Shirt screen printing ink. The pressing sheet will prevent the screen printing ink from lifting off of the shirt and sticking to the bottom of the iron. This will keep your shirts perfect and your iron from turning into a gunky mess.
12.5-inch square ruler – All of our T-Shirt Quilt blocks are cut to 12.5-inches square. And since T-Shirts have a mind of their own and like to shift around, it is critical to have a 12.5-inch ruler that you can center over the design and cut completely around so you know you’re starting with a perfect square. A 6.5-inch ruler is also helpful if you are cutting pocket squares.
Frixion Gel Pens: These marking tools go away when heat is applied with an iron or in the dryer. They are very helpful when you are marking your grid for walking foot quilting to finish your T-Shirt Quilt.
