There are a several ways to fasten the layers of a quilt together:
• They can be tied together here and there, sometimes using yarn, to make a knot about every 10 inches. (This kind of "tied" quilting can be done quickly, but the quilt isn't as durable. It's not the best choice for a T-shirt quilt.)
• Or, a quilt can be fastened onto a quilting frame and small stitches can be made by hand all over the quilt. (This takes a LOT of time. And it's not the best choice for a quilt that is likely to be "loved" (and washed) a lot.)
• Machine quilting was determined to be the best type to use for this quilt. There are several types of machine quilting that were used in different areas of the quilt. All of them involve straight lines, making either rectangles or triangles. These seemed to coordinate with the geometric prints on some of the trim. (Quilting circles and wavy lines were considered, to match the swirly blue fabric, but they were impossible with CH's sewing machine. Another idea was using the word "college" in a cursive font, as a subliminal message to Declan, but that idea, too, had to be cast aside owing to sewing-machine constraints.)
First, blue thread was used to stitch all the layers together where the sashing met the trim on the T-shirt sections. This was straight-line quilting, using the seam as the guideline. In fact, the goal was to stitch right down the center of the seam; this technique is called "stitch-in-the-ditch."
Stitching between the trim fabrics on each T-shirt section and the sashing.
This will help frame each section, and anchor it to the quilt back.
Next, all the sashing was marked into triangles with bases of 3-4 inches. For this, pink quilter's chalk was used. First the horizontal sashing was marked and stitched, then the vertical sashing, then the edging.
If you look closely, you can see some pink chalk lines above the colored insert.
The ruler shows where the next line will be chalked.
Once a section has been marked with chalk, it is stitched right away.
Chalk doesn't stay on fabric for very long!
The stitching looks like the tracer from a game of Pong!
Ran out of blue thread again - quilting uses a LOT of thread!
Time to go to the fabric store for another spool.
Fortunately, the store was open and CH had a coupon for 40% off!
While she was there, CH also bought a spool of clear (or "invisible") thread.
This will be used for the next types of quilting.
Next to be quilted is the area of the T-shirts themselves. Larger triangles were drawn on them, using either the pink chalk or a silver quilter's pencil. Both the chalk and pencil will wash out easily later.
CH threaded the sewing machine with clear thread on top, and blue thread on the bottom (in the bobbin). She then stitched "in the ditch" between the trim fabric and an actual T-shirt section. The clear thread (rather than blue) was used on top so it wouldn't be so obvious if it slipped out of the "ditch." Since the T-shirts (and their printing) are in so many colors, the clear thread was the best easy match for them all. After going all the way around the edge of a T-shirt section, the triangles on the T-shirt section were sewn.
Here, the edge of the T-shirt section is being stitched.
There will be no quilting in the colorful trim areas around the sections,
so they will be raised and will look like frames around the T-shirt sections.
Some lines have been marked on the black T-shirt with the silver quilter's pencil;
they all connect, and will be stitched directly after the edge is done.
The idea when doing machine quilting is to hold the area taut, as if it is in a hoop.
Both hands are used to slightly stretch all layers of the quilt,
and to encourage the fabric to move along.
See how well the clear thread (under left hand) blends with the T-shirt?
Only the Stanford T-shirt had been washed many times; the rest were quite new.
You can see how the red letters in "STANFORD" are part of the shirt - they are no longer shiny.
Compare them to the printing on the WSU shirt - that gray stripe is thick and shiny.
Compare them to the printing on the WSU shirt - that gray stripe is thick and shiny.
It was hard for the sewing machine to propel itself across this thick, shiny ink.
It was like trying to walk on thick, oozy mud!
All the T-shirts had these triangular lines for quilting - except Declan's own T-shirt. That called for special treatment. CH selected "echo quilting," where the lines of quilting are based on the shape of the shirt itself, "echoing" its shape.
Some lines were measured and quilted; others were "eyeballed" in-between them.
Again, notice how the clear thread has disappeared into the shirt, leaving only lines!
The quilting is done now. All the stitches on the back were done with blue thread,
which blended perfectly with the swirly fabric.
There should be no more than about 4 inches between lines of quilting,
in order to hold the quilt together adequately.
which blended perfectly with the swirly fabric.
There should be no more than about 4 inches between lines of quilting,
in order to hold the quilt together adequately.
Almost done! Just a few more steps to finish the quilt!
(Click on "Older Posts" to see THE FINISHING TOUCHES and HOW TO FOLD THE QUILT INTO A PILLOW)