T-Shirt Quilt Along, The Next Steps

Again, this post is for those quilting fiends out there.  If this isn't you, I'm sorry.  We'll be back to our regularly schedules inane utterings on ... well, as soon as this thingy here is wrapped up.  I leave you with another loverly photograph to thank you for stopping by.

"I hear you have a fire problem"
Most likely, the phrase Handsome will never in his life utter.

And now, back to the sewing madness.



Alright, so now, I'm assuming you've got enough t-shirts and flannel to get the job done, and we need to buckle down and do the job.  The remaining steps we're going to cover here are as follows: (1) Cut, (2) Pin Pin Pin, (3) Arrange, (4) Sew, (5) Repeat (2)&(4) as necessary to get the job done.

The difficulty involved in cutting these suckers out depends on the tools you are using.  Cutting mat, rotary cutter, and plastic square, its pretty easy.  Go a different route with a pencil, scissors, and a cardboard form, and you're most likely going to lose your temper on this one.  But its do-able, and perhaps I just have a short fuse and you'll whistle the whole way through the process.  I hope it is so.  However, if things get ugly, promise me you'll give yourself a time-out, and possibly even go to bed early.   Promise me.  Okay then.

Step 1:
    If you are going the rotary cutter route, here is a tutorial for you.  I wouldn't pay too much attention to most of it, since the gal in the video is cutting strips, and not squares, but its still good if you've never used a rotary cutter before.

Make sure to press down firmly on your square so it doesn't slide.
Everyone hates a slidey square.
Your mom's a square.

Such speed.
Such form.
Your mom has form.

    If you're going the scissors route, I recommend the following: First cut the flannel squares.  Using your form, trace around the square onto your flannel.  Cut these squares very carefully, and then the t-shirts won't matter so much.  Once you've got the perfectly square flannel squares, do the same with the t-shirts, but cut a little outside the drawn edge.  This way, you know your t-shirt will be large enough, and you'll be able to square things up using the flannel.

Step 2:
    Now that you have your flannel squares AND your t-shirt squares, its time to join them.  Two become one.  That sort of thing.  I know you're probably not ordained, but as long as you know how to use pins, you'll be fine.  If your flannel is not laying flat, you should iron it.  Maybe I should have led with that, before the cutting. Regardless, you need a nice flat surface, and a nice flat square of flannel.  A hard surface, like a table, is a good choice.  Lay the flannel out, smoothing it with your hands.  Then lay the t-shirt square on top, spreading it flat with your hand as well.  You want the t-shirt to reach/overhang the edges of the flannel.  Then you pin it, in the following way:

Adequate Pinning

Overkill Pinning.  But if you're nervous, go this route.
You might need some more pins, though.

Once you've got all of your squares pinned like above, you're ready for step 3.

Step 3:
    The arranging.  This is the creative point.  I find it best to just put all the squares out in a grid, and then start re-organizing.  If you're doing a specific pattern, you can draw it out beforehand, too, and then lay according to that.  Here's partway through the pinning process for me:

You don't want too many of the same color, you don't want too many blanks all in a row, etc.  Whatever floats your fancy, go to town.  Once you've got it laid out the way you want it, though, please for the love of the children, take a picture.  This way, once you start sewing and things get out of whack, you can look at the photo and see where the squares are supposed to go.

Step 4:
    The sewing takes a while, but its also where things start to get really satisfying, since you're seeing it come together.  I recommend first sewing the rows, and then sewing the rows together.  This will help you end up with a more square and less lopsided project when its all said and done.  Not that there's something bad about things that are lopsided.  My head is lopsided.  No generic glasses sit correctly on my head; always crooked.  Stupid ears.

To sew these things together, you first must pin two squares together, t-shirt sides in.  You only pin along the side you want to sew.  Once the squares are pinned, you sew down the side, being sure to keep the edge of your fabric in line with the edge of the presserfoot of your machine.  If there is a discrepancy with the flannel and the t-shirt, always err on the side of the flannel, being sure that you're sewing all 4 layers together.

Once you've made rows, lay one row on top of another, t-shirt sides together, and pin the rows along one side.  Take care that the seams from what you've sewn before don't get piled up on top of eachother, so that your machine doesn't quit and retire to Mexico.

If you repeat the pinning and the sewing enough, I do believe you'll have your quilt top done.  If these directions are unclear or confusing, please just message me, and let me know.  We'll be back another day, possibly even tomorrow, to finish the tutorial.  Or you could just use the quilt top, sewn together as it is as your quilt.  I did that for about a year with my first one.  Just don't put it in the washing machine.

Love to my homies,

TFW