Sandra Darlington Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Hi, I am working on two tee shirt quilts for a neighbor\'s son and DIL. The shirts are from their 6-7 year old son who died last year from brain cancer. The quilts will each be 20 blocks (4 across and 5 down). The blocks are 12.5 inches cut size and there is 1.5 inch sashing. Her quilt will have yellow sashing and a 5" yellow border; his quilt will have black sashing and borders. She will get the backing fabric (I requested a print) next weekend, but I need to get the thread and the batting and show her some examples of a quilting design so she can choose the one she wants. She\'s done her homework, believe me! She wants these quilts to be perfect. I am very, very new to longarming, so I don\'t want to attempt anything too difficult. She showed me a tee shirt quilt in a book and it looked like it was just meandered, maybe the size of a silver dollar, but you could not see the thread. She thinks the best way is for me to change thread and match each block, but I think that will be a PITA, plus I would need to order a lot more thread. I have had best luck using So-Fine in top and bobbin and have some neutral colors. But, if I use, say a medium gray, how will that look it the yellow sashing? Yucky? Then when I start the quilt with the black sashing, I will have the same concern. Also, what type of batting? I don\'t think a cotton that will shrink will be a good choice, so I was thinking of getting Quilter\'s Dream poly - I think it was "Select" - not too thin, not too think. Any thoughts? What about designs? Should I do an overall meander, or should I do a simple pantograph? I will try to attach a picture of the quilt in progress. It doesn\'t have the 5th row on yet, and the borders aren\'t on, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra Darlington Posted May 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 I don\'t know what is wrong, but I made it very small and it still wouldn\'t work. Sorry! I know it is hard to give advise when you can\'t see the quilt top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbi Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 On the ones I have done, I used a simple meander, and quilted thru the designs... it doesn\'t hurt them... I\'m partial to the Mountain Mist quilt lite batting... You might try a varigated thread, that would go with all your blocks and tie it together if there\'s lots of different colors. I almost always use the bottom line thread in the bobbin. Do your sample and check your tensions on the edge of the batting/backing. I try to make sure there is a "pin dot" of top thread on the bottom... that way when you take the quilt off it sinks into the batting giving you perfect looking stitches! The quilts will be perfect no matter what, they were her sons things, and she will always cherish them... I know how you feel about being new to this... just relax, breathe and know how good you are Sandy - we all think you are awesome! Can\'t wait to see pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra Darlington Posted May 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Hi Bobbi, THANKS for the vote of confidence. I\'ll have to look into the Mountain Mist Quilt Lite batting. What size meander did you do? Oh, did I mention...the tee shirts are all super heros; Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and a few other heros. Lots of colors, including black and white background shirts. Most have the rubbery designs - no frogging permitted. Lots of the shirts I had to piece together to get them large enough to be 12.5 inches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k_nollmeyer Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 I\'ve done a few t-shirt quilts. I\'ve worked with several different types of batting (hobbs heirloom, dream poly and poly) and have had good results. I use cotton tread in top and bobbin. Be careful when going through the t-shirts that are rubbery, just slow down a bit, as I have issues with thread breaking. I will only do a stipple design on t-shirt quilts. Also, a ball point needle works best on knit material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 I use Hobbs Poly Down for the batting. I like it!! I just use So Fine for the top and bobbin. I use my regular 4.0 needle and stitch right over the shirts. I use a medium to large meander or I have a panto called "Which Way Did They Go", there are two sizes and I use the large one. I have done way too many t-sirt quilts and had many satisfied customers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra Darlington Posted May 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Thanks, Mary Beth. After I read some posts here, I\'ll check out that panto, but I\'m hoping to talk her into the meander so I can be at the front of the machine and really see what\'s happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoriasews Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 I often just pick one of the main colors in the quilt and use that, usually a bright for teens and kids, pastel for little ones. I often use a meander that is long from side to side, kind of like if you are making water, that way you can go between words. I also did this attached one using a geometric meander and it was tons of fun to do and I could still go around words or special parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmquilt Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 I\'ve used monofilament top and bottom on one. Worked fine. I\'ve also used Bottom Line on top, it is thin enough that it blends in well with all the different colors. The customers seem to always want a meander which is simple enough and doesn\'t distract. I used whatever battinig the customer comes in with so I can\'t help you there. Sorry. Michele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra Darlington Posted May 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Hi Victoria, Your quilt looks great. What color thread did you use on it? It really blended in very well. Hi Michelle, I have never used monofilament thread on my Liberty. I did try it on my Bernina, but I wasn\'t able to get my tension right. I\'m afraid to try it on these quilts in case my tension goes wonky. But, thanks for that suggestion and I will have to try the mono on a practice piece and see how it goes. Thanks for reinforcing my thoughts about doing a meander. Sandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra Darlington Posted May 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 The first tee shirt top is finished. I took another picture and still cannot post it here, but I could post other pictures (but I deleted them). Very strange. Maybe after the quilt is quilted, I\'ll try again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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