craftgrrl | quilt tutorial!

Popular demand. I didn't take any pictures during the process, so all of the images below are either from Google Images or my own fevered imagination.

Materials:

t-shirts (number will vary based on size of quilt and size of shirt; I used at least 14 plus some other scrap fabric I had on hand for a twin)

ALSO:

fusible interfacing, available at any fabric store and probably WalMart too, + iron (again, amount needed will vary based on quilt size, but you will need AT LEAST 2-3 sq ft more than the anticipated size of your quilt. I bought it in chunks, because I wasn't sure how much I would need, and it's no more expensive that way)

this stiffens the jersey and makes it much easier to work with. it's not coming off, so don't forget to iron it on to the wrong side of the fabric.

rotary cutter (you can use scissors, but it's more difficult and will take much longer)

ruler (three choices: you can buy a square one the size of your desired square - this was the route I chose, it's by far the easiest - or you can use a standard ruler and draw the squares, or you can create a template out of cardboard and trace around it)

either a cutting mat or something you don't mind having cut up (like a square of linoleum) - mats are more convenient, however, as they have rulers marked on them already

fleece the size of your quilt + a little more than 2x the size of each margin - my quilt top was 60"x80", and the margins were 3" each, so I ended up getting fleece that was about 66"x86", plus a little extra for margin of error.

sewing machine, unless you have a lot of time on your hands...a basic one is fine, although I don't think that something like a Sewing Genie could stand up to this

1. Figure out what size you want your quilt to correspond to (i.e. twin, full, queen, etc.). From there, determine what size square you're looking at and how many you'll need. My squares were 5" for a twin quilt, so I used 12x16=180 squares.

2. Figure out your template size. For the 5" square, I used a 6" square ruler and left half an inch on all sides to sew each square to another.

red = margin, blue = actual square that will go on quilt

3. Take your template (ideally, a square clear ruler) and hold it against your t-shirt. Estimate how many squares you'll be able to get out of the shirt. This will allow you to iron the fusible interfacing where you'll need it and nowhere else, thus not wasting it. DON'T FORGET to estimate using the whole template, including the margins you'll be using for sewing. So if you've got a 5" square goal and you're giving it a margin of .5" on either side, you'll be using a 6"x6" template.

4. Turn the shirt INSIDE OUT. Cut out fusible interfacing to cover the areas you'll be using for squares. You can just iron the interfacing on in one big chunk. It's really important that you do this first, because jersey is stretchy and will be much more difficult to cut accurately if it doesn't have a backing.

5. Iron the fusible interfacing on according to manufacturer's instructions. It's usually glue side down, pretty hot, for fifteen to twenty seconds, but I imagine it varies from interfacing to interfacing and from iron to iron.

6. Once the interfacing is on there, put the cutting mat underneath the layer you'll be cutting. Line up your template and use your rotary blade to cut around it. I find that weighing the template down with something heavy, like a large can, is very helpful in preventing it from slipping/moving.

6b. If you're using just a ruler: Use the ruler to draw your square. Be sure you're making 90-degree angles. Cut that with the rotary cutter, against the ruler if possible. I don't recommend this, but maybe some people have better fine-muscle coordination.

6c. If you're using just scissors: trace the square using one of the methods above and cut with scissors. Again, I don't recommend this unless you're really good at cutting straight or you really can't afford a rotary cutter.

7. Now: you can either draw your margins with a ruler or you can cut out more squares. It's your call whether you want to cut and draw and cut and draw or just cut out a bunch of squares and then do all the margins at once. I cut and made another member of my family draw for me, if that's an option for you.

8. Repeat this process until you have enough squares. Like I said, if you're looking to reproduce the dimensions of my quilt, you're going to make 180 squares, but it's by no means a set number.

9. Now you're ready to make the quilt top. First off, organize your squares on a flat surface by color; this will allow you to see how many you have of each and prevent you from using all your squares of one color on one side.

10. Take the squares you want to be the first and second squares of your first column and pin them together, interfacing out, jersey in. Like so:

(see? they look the same)

11. Sew them together along the top margin line with a basic straight stitch on your sewing machine. You want to sew the whole line, edge to edge. It's generally good practice to start about half an inch in, press the backwards lever (or however yours works), and stitch BACKWARDS for a little bit, and then stitch forward after that so that the stitches are more secure. Not totally necessary, but a helpful habit, for this project and others.

12. Cut the thread, take your squares, and open them so you know that everything came out all right. It should look like this, assuming that we're working with the same purple shirt we were before and maybe another one that's green:

13. Continue this process until you have a column the length of your quilt.

14. Make another column using steps 10-13. As you sew, make sure to check it against the first column, to ensure that you're keeping the length of the columns consistent. All you have to do is hold them up against each other. They should look like the first illustration, not the second:

15. Once you have two complete rows, sew them together as in step 11, but down the vertical edge instead of across the horizontal edge.

Proceed in this manner until you have a top the size you want.

15a. If you want an embroidered center square like mine, choose 4 squares to make the larger square - they should all be the same color - and sew them together independently. I freehanded my design, although I drew it with pencil (v. lightly) first. I had never embroidered before, so don't be afraid! A good guide to basic stitches can be found here.

Then incorporate it into the quilt top at the location that you want. I found that it was easiest to sew the top chunk and bottom chunk separately and then sew the square to both of those. Like this:

16. Once you have a top together, it's time to consider your backing. You will probably not be able to get fleece that large. I wasn't. So what I had to do was get it in thirds and sew it together. Again, this is going to depend on your dimensions.

17. Take your fleece and determine whatever size border you want. So if you're doing a 3" border, take 6" and fold it in half, and then add an extra .5" on the end for the margin. Like so:

Then unfold it. Now you know what you're working with.

18. This part is a little tricky. First, place the fleece on the bottom (floor, table, whatever). Line up the quilt top face down onto the top of the fleece. Pin down that half inch line and sew down the line.

Remove the pins. Take the fleece and unfold it so it looks like this:

Then fold it under so you have the border you want. Pin it and sew down the dotted line.

19. Okay, so now you have a quilt top that is attached to fleece by a sewn 3" (or whatever) border. Now you want to do some of the actual quilting. Smooth both pieces out so there are no wrinkles and pin the quilt down the first row. Now sew down the line between the first and the second row.

20. Continue on in this manner until you've quilted the whole thing vertically. Repeat the border process from Step 18 on the other side.

21. So now all you have left are the top and bottom borders. You can sew that two ways:

For the first, all you have to do is fold it down, tuck 1/2" under to eliminate any raw edges, pin, and sew.

For the second, fold each corner inside like you're wrapping a present. Sew the lines to reinforce them. From there, tuck the top border 1/2" under and sew.

A few notes:

The people at the sewing machine store told me that the needle needs to be changed after every 4-8 hrs of sewing. My great aunt, who was a seamstress for thirty years, told me that that is bullshit. I'm not sure who's right, but I do know that my needle needed to be changed with some frequency. If you find that your thread is tangling and jamming and there's no discernible reason, you've probably worn out your needle and created a microscopic burr that's catching the thread and fabric. To prevent that, I would change the needle roughly every 36-40 squares or so.

Also, when you sew the fleece, use a larger stitch, as fleece is much thicker than jersey alone.

This is my first tutorial, so if something's not clear, feel free to ask me any questions you have.

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