Racing T-Shirts Couch Quilt - Black & Blue

I machine pieced this quilt on my Bernina 240.

I quilted this quilt on my Janome QMP-18 long arm.

Finished size: 61" x 75"

(click on photos to enlarge)

🏁FINISHED QUILT:🏁

Front piecing: A collage of 24 squares of various sizes, cut from 12 t-shirts and one jacket, with fabrics from my stash filling in between the blocks. A 3" wide outside border of black & white polka-dot fabric (purchased from an estate sale) surrounds the t-shirt collage.

Backing: The backing fabric is 108" wide Sea Glass by P&B Textiles.

Quilt Stitching, Pattern: I quilted using edge-to-edge "Bubble Vine Meander" from Wasatch Quilting.

Quilt Stitching, Thread: I used "Black" (So Fine 50 #411) thread on the front of the quilt, then "Billings Blue" (So Fine 50 #474) on the quilt back.

Label: I sewed on a purchased custom label, made from textile ink printed on cotton fabric & backed with a laminating layer.

Click the above photo to view the creation of another quilt also made from this T-shirt collection.

🏁PROGRESS PHOTOS:🏁

Construction - Blocks:

This quilt is one of two that I made from a total of 25 T-shirts and 1 jacket. I split the shirts by color into two groups: 1) blue+black and 2) orange+white, intending to create two oversized couch quilts. This is the blue & black group.

I began by cutting the fronts and back of the shirts apart, and ironed interfacing on the back of every piece of shirt fabric. I used not only the pieces with decals, but also solid T-shirt fabric pieces as well.

The majority of the T-shirts have original autographs on them, so I couldn't cut up into the shoulder areas of the shirts without risking losing some of the signature. To combat this, I used the fabric from T-shirt sleeves to applique behind and underneath the ribbed neck openings. This way, I was able to create larger squares from many of the shirts.

When sewing sections of T-shirt material together, I use lots and lots of pins, since the fabric can be very shifty under the needle.

Once I cut and added interfacing to the larger T-shirt pieces, I laid them out across a bed and began moving them around, looking for movement and color balance. Then I created the collage by "filling in" areas in between the blocks, using fabrics from the T-shirts as well as from my stash of strips, crumbs, and left overs from previous quilt projects.

Construction - Borders:

For the outer 3" border, I used a black & white polka-dot fabric from yardage that I purchased at an estate sale.

Quilting:

I load the Sea Glass backing fabric (face down) onto my longarm, and then roll the fabric back and forth between the front and back bars a few times to even tension.

Then I drape a layer of thin batting over the backing, and then float the pieced quilt top as a final layer. (Since the interfacing adds an extra layer to the t-shirt fabrics, I used a thinner batting, so that the finished quilt isn't too heavy).

The quilt sandwich is then completely basted through all 3 layers, stitching down one side, across the belly bar, and back up the other side, advancing and repeating, before it is finally ready to be quilted.

I used my ProStitcher software to resize, repeat, and wrap the edge-to-edge "Bubble Vine Meander" from Wasatch Quilting. I also used the crop feature so that the stitching didn't go over the two jacket sleeve sections, since I didn't want to needle punctures to damage any of that embroidered stitching.

Starting the first of 7 rows (each row is 10.5" high).

As I learned from quilting past T-shirt quilts, the rubber printing found on some t-shirts wears down the stitching needle extremely quickly - so I changed out the needle at the beginning of each of the 7 rows.

Trimming:

When trimming, I lined up my rulers to cut exactly 3" from the outer edge of the t-shirts rather than using the border fabric to measure. This helped the quilt remain square.

Binding:

I joined together several 2.5" strips of the Sea Glass backing fabric, pressing them in half lengthwise, making a total of 305" of binding.

First I attached the binding strips to the back of the quilt, using my sewing machine and a 1/4" seam.

Then I wrapped the binding around and attached it to the front of the quilt. 

As always, I like to use my Bernina 240's blind hem foot to get precise edges when machine sewing bindings.

Washing:

To absorb some of the dark fabric dyes, I machine washed the finished quilt (cold water, no bleach) using dye trapping sheets (I use either Color Catchers or Color Grabbers). I always wash a quilt before I gift it - so that its beautiful texture and soft wrinkles can be enjoyed!

Shrink-wrapped and ready to ship!

🏁QUILT SUMMARY:🏁

I machine pieced this quilt on my Bernina 240.

I quilted this quilt on my Janome QMP-18 long arm.

Finished size: 61" x 75"

Front piecing: 24 squares of various sizes cut from 12 t-shirts and a jacket, using fabrics from my stash of strips and crumbs, and leftovers from previous quilt projects, to fill in between the blocks. Surrounded by a 3" polka-dot border.

Back: 108" wide Sea Glass by P&B Textiles.

Binding: Machine sewn Sea Glass by P&B Textiles.

Quilting: Edge-to-edge "Bubble Vine Meander" from Wasatch Quilting. "Black" (So Fine 50 #411) thread on the front, "Billings Blue" (So Fine 50 #474) on the back.

🏁Click here to view the creation of another quilt also made from this T-shirt collection.🏁

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