yeoldeforest Posted December 25, 2007 Report Share Posted December 25, 2007 As I started my newbie long arm career around the 4th of July last year with the arrival of my Milli, I decided to advertise that I would offer a T-Shirt Quilting service. Within two weeks, I got my first customer. She commissioned me to put together two separate T-Shirt quilts...one quilt with 60 T-Shirts and one quilt with 24 T-shirts...complete with sashing and a blocking squares. Having some sense as a newbie, I told her I would complete the quilts by Christmas. I figured I could get two quilts done in 5 to 6 months...right?! Being a newbie and since this was my first official T-Shirt quilts, I only charged $10.00 per T-Shirt! Live and burn....and need I say more? I delivered the T-Shirt quilts to her today...we finished the borders on the "BIG" T-shirt quilt at 1:30 pm this afternoon. I met her at 3:15 pm with the quilts. (Never give a deadline to a long armer and an accountant if you want it sooner:!) Long story short, she loved the quilts. Not really sure if I will ever offer T-Shirt services again, but I think they did turn out nice. By the way, the "BIG" T-Shirt was too big for the Milli and we had to turn it sideways. Each completed T-shirt block is 12 inches. 10 shirts wide by 6 down plus sashing and borders!! The final quilt measured approx. 94 inches by 150 inches!!! Let's see if the attachment works! By the way, I love this site and have learned so much from everyone!!! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeoldeforest Posted December 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2007 Here\'s the pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeoldeforest Posted December 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2007 Smaller T-shirt quilt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsktsn3cats Posted December 25, 2007 Report Share Posted December 25, 2007 I\'ve never seen such a huge t-shirt quilt! They really turned out great though. Good job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenscratch Posted December 25, 2007 Report Share Posted December 25, 2007 Wow, what a job to take on right away; but at least she was willing to pay your fee. You did a super job on both of those. That huge one must have been a bear to try to piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeoldeforest Posted December 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 Thanks! Basically for the BIG quilt, I pieced four smaller quilts - 5 wide by 3 long each, then the top to bottom on both sides then left to right. I was trying to avoid stitching down the center of the 10 t-shirts. I added the borders last which wasn\'t too bad. You can\'t see the quilting in the pics but I used Deb\'s Swirls and the clear thread from Superior Threads. The tough part was adding the binding after the quilting. We had an 8 foot table on the left of my sewing machine and my husband was walking and holding the weight of the quilt as I was running the binding through the machine...yikes!! Glad the kids were at Grandma\'s...I was muttering some very choice words. Ok...last pic and add this to my Christmas list for next year. Dear APQS, Please make a table longer than 14 foot...not!!!! .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted December 26, 2007 Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 Joanne, They really came out great but I can\'t imagine how that was to bind! Please tell me you did the binding all by machine! Did you back the t-shirts? Heidi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheryll Posted December 26, 2007 Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 Love both of them. Did you charge her to quilt them and piece them or was the 10 dollars for a complete quilt job? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenMcManus Posted December 26, 2007 Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 Joanne, What an accomplishment! I just love them both. I showed my husband and we both are just so mad we don\'t have our concert t\'s anymore!!!!!!!!!!! Jen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeoldeforest Posted December 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 Thanks for the comments! The total for both quilts was $840 ($240 for the small quilt and $600) for the larger quilt. This included piecing, interfacing, batting, backing (like 30 yards of fabric) and quilting...entire job. I think I made less than $5.00 an hour...It took over 48 hours worth of work...I guestimate that I have about $200 to $300 worth of material in the quilts before labor. (wholesale prices) Two bolts - 15 yards each of fusible interfacing for medium or cotton fabric, at least 30 yards of materials for backing, piecing and blocks, 10 hours of quilting and 8 hours for adding the binding, 30 plus hours for preparing the T-Shirts, adding the sashing, piecing, etc. Yes, I used interfacing for medium weight for backing the T-Shirts. First, I cut the T-Shirts using a 15 1/2 inch square ruler, I also cut the interfacing with the same ruler. Then fuse the interfacing to the back of the T-Shirts...be very careful not to melt the logos on the shirts. I used a non-stick fabric sheet "The Applique Pressing Sheet" by Bear Thread Designs on top and bottom when I fused the interfacing to the shirts. After the shirts were stabilized, I cut them down again using a 12 1/2 square ruler. It took 8 to 12 hours or so just to cut, stabilize and re-cut a 2nd time the 60 t-shirts. Yes, the binding was machine quilted all of the way around. Double french binding added to the front then folded over and machine top-stitched using a decorative design. I also used/ironed Charlotte\'s web fusible thread by Superior Threads along the back, between the binding and the back of the quilt to hold the binding down before I ran the top-stitch. The binding on the BIG quilt took 5 hours...we started at 8:30 am and finished at 1:30 pm. whew...can you tell I\'ve been living and sleeping T-shirt quilt for the last week or so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyeQ Posted December 26, 2007 Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 Joanne they turned out fantastic! Talk about diving in head first! You did great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmquilt Posted December 26, 2007 Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 Joanne, Those turned out really great. I\'m impressed!!! I do think you are nuts though. LOL Michele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona-quilter Posted December 26, 2007 Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 Joanne, Those quilts are fabulous. Perfectly pieced, flat and love that sashing. What a lot of work, though. We had a thread on the forum a couple months ago about T-Shirt quilt pricing. I guess experience is the best teacher. I bet your next one will not be $10 a shirt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelleslongarm Posted December 26, 2007 Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 Gosh, so nice. If you were to do it again, what do you think would you would charge?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheri Butler Posted December 26, 2007 Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 Wow, 2 of them? This is one quilt, that I have yet to do...(or should i say, "do i want to do???") Anyway, I\'ve not yet attempted a t-shirt quilt. Nicely done girl!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted December 26, 2007 Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 Your T Shirt quilt projects turned out great! Thank you for posting the pictures and details of how you approached making the blocks and the binding technique you used. I\'ve yet to attempt a T Shirt quilt, but I made some notes from your message. The one is sure big! King Size? I presume. Well, if you ever do another T Shirt quilt---you can now say your an "expert at it" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeoldeforest Posted December 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 Yes...I saw the post on T-shirts quilts awhile back and was watching it. I will definitely charge more next time but not sure what to charge...whether to charge by size or per shirt. It is sooooo labor intensive but they did turn out really nice and Sarah really liked them. She was a softball player growing up and in college. Her father went to every one of her games. She plans to hang the "BIG" quilt on a large wall in her house...not sure if the wall will still be standing after she hangs...lol. I\'m not sure if I want to shy away from these types of quilts or advertise them. I\'ve seen some quilters suggest charging $20 plus per shirt but I think you could out price the market quickly. I\'m not really into the "labor of love" concept either... Most of the websites/quilters who offer these quilts look like that charge $12.50 per shirt...since I was a newbie, I gave Sarah a 25% discount...so that\'s why I only charged the $10 per shirt. I\'m not a real big fan of T-shirt quilts but I could see how they have meaning for the owners. I wish I had saved some of my college shirts and 80s concert shirts. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, most of the people who want T-Shirt quilts don\'t know a lot about the quilting process so they want the complete package. Have a wonderful week!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 Joanne, Wow...those are great quilts! And in your living room, you have a terrific spot to showcase your latest creations draped from the balcony of your stairs. Keep up the good work. Can\'t wait to see your next creation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigletaz Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 love your t-shirt quilts. I had a potential customer who wanted me to make a t-shirt quilt for him, he had run in dozens of 5k and 10k runs over the years. I quoted him just $400 plus tax for 20 t-shirts, including all the interfacing, fabric, binding, etc. - which was a bargain price if you ask me and he said, "no thanks - too much money". I never heard from him again. Oh well. But I love yours. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra Darlington Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 They are great t-shirt quilts. What a lot of work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.