TnBecky

I have a friend that is wanting to make a t-shirt quilt for her daughter out her college shirts. I don't have a book on this & was wondering if the quilter's here could recommend one that gives detailed instuctions. She has made other quilt's, but never one from t-shirts. Thanks in advance for any help.

gramajo

My DD used "How to Make a Tool Cool T-shirt Quilt" by Andrea T. Funk for my quilt.. She got it from Amazon.

Treasureit

I found some really good tutorials online that helped me...along with some kind person on this board...that sent some great information. SO search here too.

mamagrande

Elenor Burns has a pattern that is probably available at any local quilt store.

TerryQuilter

There's a t-shirt quilt book in the new Connecting Threads catalog. It's called "T Shirt Quilts Made Easy" by Martha DeLeonards. It's $11.97 in the catalog, but you might be able to get it cheaper on Amazon.

QuiltE

You can order and download that book from teh Too Cool website ... or order a hard copy direct from them.

GramaJo ... would love to hear more input re your daughter's experience with the Too Cool technique. From what I have read, I think their method makes the most sense, though I have yet to hear anyone who has done it that way.

gramajo

[ATTACH=CONFIG]387996[/ATTACH]Here's the quilt she made for me. The design is based on a 3" grid; the largest block is 15". I believe she used graph paper to lay it all out. She used pockets from shirts, embroidered patches from my rallying and flying days, the front and back of a V-necked shirt sewn together so it actually looks like a V-necked shirt. She has waaay more patience than I would have had. It is my favorite napping-on-the-couch quilt.

Peckish

Thee are many, many FREE tutorials online.

kuseta

I'm her daughter and I found the Too Cool way to be very easy. There's no interfacing of each block, you just sew them together using a ball point needle because of the knit and a walking foot. They didn't stretch near as bad as you would expect.

The hardest part was coming up with a layout that fit everything. I was working at my dining room table with a sheet of graph paper and all these little squares cut to proportion. I'd be close to being done and one of my cats would jump up and knock everything around. This happened twice before I got smart enough to move to my sewing room and shut the door!

I would recommend doing tshirt quilts this way. You can use many more shirts and I think it turns out looking much more interesting.

QuiltE

GramaJo ... Thanks for getting your DD to join us here on this thread! I bet that quilt is your favourite, for two reasons ... made by your loving DD plus being surrounded by all those memories, what else could it be?

Kuseta ... Darn those cats!!! but they were only wanting to play with you!!! Thanks for jumping in. I've been following the Too Cool method and do think "in theory" it's the way to go. However, I haven't gotten into action yet! You're the first I've found that has followed the Too Cool method, so am very glad to hear your thoughts.

Some questions, that I hope you don't mind my asking.
I see you used a ballpoint needle and walking foot.
Did you stitch with a regular straight stitch 1/4" seam? stretch stitch? or?
It looks like you had it LAQ.
Do you think it'd be easy enough to sandwich and FMQ on a DSM?
or should I plan on sending it to a LAQ?

I've been buying local t-shirts in the thrift stores to use as a test run and then will give it for a charity fundraiser in the community. If I like the technique, then I will have some confidence to cut into the "good" t-shirts! If not, at least I have not ruined the ones of personal value.

Thanks for your input ... I really appreciate it!