Here are two more birthday blocks I made and sent off a while back. The colors requested were purple, hunter green, blue, cream.
This one is called Braided Star. I love it!
I think the second block is very similar to the Blackford’s Beauty block. My color placement is a little different.
I loved working with these colors, and I hope the birthday girl likes her blocks!
A few months ago, at a day-long sew-in, I sat next to a quilter who was sewing a flange binding on to her wall hanging. I LOVED the look, it gives the quilt a special little pop and finish. That day, she showed several of us fellow quilters how to do it, but I didn’t have the right quilt to try it out on until now.
This is my friend Brandy’s quilt; she hired me to do the binding work on it. She graciously gave me permission to experiment and play with adding a flange.
After I measured the perimeter of the quilt and determined the length of the binding – 310 inches – I cut several strips of pink at 1″ wide, and several of yellow at 1.25″ wide. I like a fairly narrow binding; you can cut yours wider if you wish. The easiest thing to remember is to simply cut your flange fabric 1/4″ wider than your binding fabric.
After sewing all the strips together so I had one long pink strip and one long yellow strip, I sewed them, right sides together, lengthwise.
I pressed towards the binding (pink), then folded it lengthwise with raw edges even, and pressed again. You can see the yellow flange peeking out at the bottom.
I sewed the binding on the quilt. A flange binding is different from a regular binding in that you do not first sew it on the front - you sew it to the back. I aligned the raw edges of the binding with the raw edges of the back of the quilt quilt, and sewed.
Notice how I sewed with with flange fabric facing up. If you sew it with the binding fabric facing up, call me, I’ll bring my seam ripper and a couple of bottles of wine.
When you get to the corners, you treat them exactly the same as you would with normal binding:
Stitch along the edge until you get 1/4″ away from the corner, turn and sew off the corner.
Fold the binding diagonally and up so the raw edge is even with the raw edge of the quilt.
See how my finger is holding the bottom left corner of the binding in place? You want that corner to stay right there. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.
Fold the binding back down, keeping the raw edges of the binding aligned with the raw edge of the quilt (on the right side). The binding fold at the top should be even with the top edge of the quilt.
Starting from the top edge and keeping raw edges aligned, sew with a 1/4″ seam down to the next corner.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Here is how I join the ends of my bindings. This method works perfectly no matter how wide your binding is or what kind you use – with or without flange. First, measure how wide the binding is. In my case, it’s 1 3/4″.
Then I overlap the ends by that measurement – see the green dotted line? That’s where I cut the end off that strip. Don’t cut the bottom strip, though, or you’ll need to start all over and I’ll have to bring more wine.
I stuck a pin through the seam where the pink and yellow fabrics met. More green dotted lines to help you see exactly where…
Here’s the inside view. You can see how the pin goes right through the center of those seams.
Then I stitched the two strips together diagonally, making sure I went right over the spot where the two seams met. See the red dotted line? That is where you sew.
Done!
Press that last section of binding together, raw edges even, and finish stitching it to the back of your quilt.
Now it’s time to flip the binding around to the front of the quilt and sew.
I used a color of thread that blended well with the yellow, and stitched in the ditch, right at the edge of the pink binding.
When I got to the corners, I folded the binding into a miter and held it in place with a stiletto. I stitched as close to the corner as I could get before I turned the quilt. I reduced my stitch length on a couple of corners because doing that enabled me to get right next to the pink binding without stitching into it.
And it’s done! Here’s the front:
Front and back together:
I was very pleased at how quick and easy this binding was. Brandy loved it and really liked the extra detail provided by the yellow flange. I hope this inspires you to try a flange binding on your next quilt!
I received 3 quilts this week for binding, in addition to the binding I’ve been putting on my own quilt. The first one is pretty straightforward:
It’s fun to work on because I like the quilt’s colors. The thread, backing, and binding are all the same gorgeous shade of deep teal, which makes it a little difficult to see the stitches, so I needed plenty of light.
The second one is for my friend Brandy. She originally wanted a very pale pink binding, but I talked her into a darker pink because I thought it would help the other pinks in the (mostly green) quilt pop. Once I got it home, I sat and stared at it for a while, then texted Brandy to ask if she’d let me play with it and add a flange onto the binding. She graciously said yes, so I added a very narrow strip of yellow.
I LOVE it, and so does Brandy! This type of binding was super easy and fast, and I’m sure I’ll be doing it again!
For the binding on my own quilt, I decided to do a scalloped edge, which means bias binding. This is the first time I’ve attempted scallops, and so far I’m very pleased!
I did initially struggle with the size and shape of the scallops, but I came up with the perfect solution, which I will share with everyone tomorrow. I gotta get that pretty teal binding done for my customer first!
My 12-year old son, Preston, attends a charter school that focuses on project-based learning. Imagine how tickled I was when he came home from school and informed me that his math project for that week was to create 2 quilt blocks!
The requirements were that each block had to have a minimum of 8 pieces. He had to figure out the area of each section, or patch, then how much fabric was required for a) each patch of the block, b) each block, and c) for a whole quilt. He thought it would be fun to make his blocks out of fabric, instead of drawing and coloring them. I heartily agreed. What else could I have done? heh heh….
So I sat quietly while he drew his blocks out on paper and did the math.
Sorry, Electric Quilt Company, but this is one time when it really does need to be done the hard way.
Once he finished his design on paper, it was open season on the fabric stash. I showed him stripes, prints, swirls, but to my surprise he picked solids.
(It’s entirely possible that he was overwhelmed by the selection.)
After watching him make 2 or 3 cuts with my rotary cutter, we both agreed it would be better if I was in charge of cutting, and he was in charge of sewing.
I set him up on my “baby” Brother machine, the one with the variable speed control
He did very, very well! He put together two beautiful blocks!
It’s always fun to initiate a quilt noobie! I asked him if he had fun, he said yes. I asked him how likely it was that he would sew something else, perhaps an entire quilt. He thought about it, then answered, “About 35% chance, I’d say.”
I’ll take it!
p.s. Yes, Mom, he’s had a haircut since this picture was taken…
I love EQ for T-shirt quilts. I seem to be making a lot of them lately, and love being able to try out my layouts before I even take my rotary cutter to the shirts. I’m currently making one for a friend’s daughter’s graduation, and wanted to send her pictures of what the quilt could look like with different fabrics. She’s in Ohio, I’m in Michigan. There’s no way to get together to sit down together to do this. Shea is a soccer player, so I found some nice soccer fabric that wasn’t “kiddie” to use in it.
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I took pictures of all the shirts and loaded them into EQ.
This mock-up is a big, fat “YUCK”!
That border is waaay to dark, and the sashings catch the eye instead of the shirts.
It needs a pop of color, too, doesn’t it? It’s pretty boring.
This one is OUT.
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I decided to use the soccer fabric in the border instead.
MUCH better. I like the way the yellow 1/2″ border on the outside frames the quilt. But the sashings look washed out, don’t they? What if we add another pop of color just outside the sashing and made the sashings black?
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Looks good. A definite maybe. I like the way the soccer fabric “reads” as a mottled grey color. Keeps the eye on the shirts, not the border.
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Let’s try a pop of red. We are Ohio State Buckeyes, after all!
Oooh, that looks SO nice! And look how that completely changed the look of the quilt!
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What would white look like? It was a surprise to me that I actually liked it. Almost frames it like a picture, doesn’t it?
I enjoy trying out different fabrics and colors to see what happens. I don’t “imagine” things well, and need to see them to really get a feel for what a quilt will look like. This is why I love EQ. I don’t know it as well as Peggi does (she’s a true whiz at it!) but I’ve got the t-shirt quilts down to a fine science. And I love being able to give my customers choices. I can try out the fabrics before I buy them, and changes can easily be made before I start cutting up the shirts!
If you’re interested in making one of these, I’ve written a tutorial for beginners that you can download here. They’re sure a lot of fun, and I’ve made some extra “fabric money” making them for others!
Birthday girl has received her blocks, so I can show these now.
She specified red, blue, tan and cream.
I love how both blocks turned out, but this appliqued log cabin has a special place in my heart.
It’s inspired by one of the very first quilts I ever made.
It hung in our master bath, of all places, sort of forgotten, until I had a guest who admired it at length and asked if she could have it. I thought why not let it go to a new home, where someone will love it anew?
But I missed it, like a child who has grown and moved on. It was pretty, the soft taupes and pinks and corals. The wall in the master bath is still empty. So I decided to make another one, this time destined for another home from day one.
Gorgeous. Even my husband loved it. This was the one he didn’t want me to send away (apparently he didn’t care much for the pinks) but I assured him I can always make another one.
Spent the last 8 hours in the sewing room today – the first time in a long time! Getting started on a quilt for the daughter of my friend, Beth. It’s for her graduation. All soccer shirts. Think I’m going to look for some soccer fabric to back this baby with.
Got the shirts all cut and interfaced. Had a few where I had to add a portion of the back to the front, or vice-versa. Like this one, which had “Unstoppable” on the back. I cut it out and added it to the front of the shirt:
And this one, that had a logo on the front, which I cut out and added to the back of the shirt:
Of course, my room is a wreck now, and it will stay that way until this quilt is done. I throw absolutely nothing away until my quilts are done – you never know what you’ll need, and once it’s gone, you can’t get it back again!
I’ll be in North Carolina next weekend visiting my girlfriend, so nothing will get done until the following weekend. Glad this room is in the basement and I won’t have to look at this mess for two weeks!
Wow, you’re getting to be quite the t-shirt quilt pro! Next thing you know, you’ll be taking orders!
I have a cousin and a niece who live far away. Which means I can’t work with them on the t-shirt quilts they want to make. So I’ve created a PDF tutorial for them, which I thought others may enjoy too. They’re a great way to preserve your favorite shirts, and make GREAT graduation or birthday quilts for teens – who tend to collect tons of t-shirts!
Since they are both noobie’s to quilting, this tutorial is geared towards beginners – but the instructions can be used by anyone who wants to make one of these fun quilts! I’ve included lots of helpful tips and hints to make things as easy as possible.
Pre-sashing makes construction a breeze!
The instructions are in two parts (combined into one PDF file). Part one is for creating the blocks. Part two is sewing them together and adding the borders. It does not include creating the “quilt sandwich”. There are plenty of tutorials out there for this, so I’ve left that to others. Plus, I’m just plain tired of looking at this tutorial – it was quite intensive to create! I forget how involved these tutorials are until I start one. My praise go out to those of you who create these things on a regular basis. You’ve got much more patience than I do!
As always, the usual disclaimers:
There are many tutorials out there on t-shirt quilts. This is how I make mine. It works for me. Please read through these instructions before beginning. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this tutorial. We accept no responsibility for errors or omissions, but welcome your suggestions for corrections or improvements that can be made for future editions.
This tutorial is the property of seamstobeyouandme.com, all rights reserved. Do not copy or redistribute without prior written consent. Please be kind and link to this blog so others may download their own pattern.
Click the picture below to access the PDF instructions….
If you create a quilt from these instructions, please send us a picture! We’d love to show off your creation on our site!
I want to thank Peggi for enduring my endless e-mails, questions and frustrations while I was writing this. Trying to make this easy to understand for noobies – while not “talking down” so much you can’t understand it – isn’t an easy thing to do. Without her help (and hysterical e-mail answers!) this may have never been published. You’re a doll! Here’s a picture of us doing what we do best….when we are able to get together. This pic was taken at the Houston International Quilt Festival this year. What fun we had!
Peggi & Cindi relaxing after the show 
I’ve got the quilt on the frame now, and once it’s completely quilted and the binding is on I’ll post a picture of it. It’s from the t-shirts I collected when we vacationed in Australia last November/December. What a blast we had, and now I’ve got a quilt to snuggle under to remind me of all the places we visited.
By popular request! Well, okay, maybe the requests only came from Cindi and my mom, but they still count, right?
Cindi wanted to know how I keep my needle from unthreading as I sew, and my mom wanted to know how I put the knot so close to the end of the thread. Here’s a little video that shows how I accomplish both.
For the first time in my so-called quilting career, I joined a swap. The birthday block swap sounded like fun – to participate, you agree to make 2 blocks for everyone on the swap list. The blocks are sent to each participant on her birthday. The birthday girl chooses the colors she wants in her blocks, and the block makers get to pick the block pattern. All blocks are to be 12.5″ when you put them in the mail.
Here are the first two blocks I made. The birthday girl wanted sage green, blue, tan and cream fabrics.
I’ve always admired this bordered star block, and this gave me a chance to make one. If you like it, go here for the pattern.
I have to tell you, choosing fabrics from my stash was way more difficult than I thought it would be. Here’s a sample of my inner dialogue:
“Hmmm, sage green… this one is too olive, this one is too blue… this one is sage but it’s a darker sage, too dark I think… is this one too yellow? Well, let’s put that aside for a moment and try something easier – blue. Well, did she mean light blue or dark blue or dusky blue or midnight blue… this blue is kind of greenish… that blue is more purple… Holy cow, making blocks for someone else is HARD!!!”
I finally sat down, took a deep breath, and realized that since everyone is making different blocks and using different fabrics, the whole quilt will be scrappy and my fabric choices won’t matter that much.
Here’s the second birthday block:
A tulip block, another favorite of mine.
I’m already having fun! This is a great way to experiment with blocks I’ve always wanted to try out, but didn’t have the right project for.
