KellyS

That might work, better than poking holes in my fingers! btw have some extra of the heavy duty stuff if anyone wants it, have resisted the urge to burn it in my driveway...haha

quilting cat

The heavy duty is what you use for unsewn iron-on, also called "raw edge applique". I have had designs on sweatshirts last several years of washings without much fraying. I have also zigzagged over the edge of a picture, one side of stitch in the unbonded fabric, and found that greatly reduced the frequency of needle cleaning.

bluadept

You can machine sew with it on the back but have a cotton ball with kitchen grade oil (veg/soy/canola )and wipe your needle every so often to get the glue off of it.

ckcowl

i found if i have a gauze pad with baby oil, or sewing machine oil on it this can be used to wipe the *gunk* from the needle that builds up while sewing...it is hard to stitch through but lots easier with the machine than with a hand needle. it also stays pretty stiff in the finished project, but it's not the end of the world. the t-s will really hold up now with the heavy interfacing :)
it makes it a little more difficult to complete, but is still totally do-able.

Carol J.

I have made two tee shirt quilts, one was patch work, the other machine appliqued. Used the thin interfacing on the patchwork top and heavier on the appliqued one. This one had all different sizes of emblems to use so I couldn't make a uniform patch. Ironed them onto a background and did the blind stitch around the edges in matching thread. I think acetone, fingernail polish on a piece of an old sock or a cotton ball would take the sticky stuff off your needle. Have some spares on hand and clean them up after you get several gunky. The heavier backing willonly make the quilt stiffer and it too willsoften up with use. I wouldn't even try to remove it, just go for it and get it done. Carol J.

Carol J.

Carol J.

Should have said, fingernail polish remover in the above message, sorry about that.

Carol J.

quiltlin

I have a few friends that make lots of t-shirt quilts and I've made a couple myself. I really don't think you should be using heat and bond. You should probably using a really light weight iron-on interfacing that you would use when sewing garments. The idea is just to keep the t-shirt from stretching. Buy a small piece of interfacing and try it on some of the t-shirt scraps; I think you'll find that it's much softer in the quilts and MUCH easier to quilt.

KellyS

Thanks again ladies for all the wonderful suggestions - may try one more time to sew it by machine with lots of gunk remover close by - if not will just do by hand.

patdesign

Contact the mfgr and ask if it can be removed with something, otherwise you may have to scrap the project. Definitely don't try stitching if the instructions say not to. I stitched thru some adhesive backed trim and spent hours cleaning the adhesive off the needle, bobbin case and internal parts.

KellyS

There is a product called Un-Du that can be used - but can't find it anywhere local - may have to look online and pay for shipping?