Are you looking for a T-shirt quilt that is way better than average? Here's what you should be looking for when you're planning a T-shirt quilt. The best T-shirt quilts will have the following in common:
I needed a way to use all the graphics on her T-shirts without cutting any part off. I also didn't want to have too much blank area around any one design.
This meant that I needed to cut blocks to fit the designs on the T-shirts. This lead to me developing the Too Cool or puzzle style of T-shirt quilt. Simply put, this style puzzles many different sizes of T-shirt blocks into one cohesive quilt.
When you are looking at T-shirt quilts, first look at the blocks. If all the blocks are the same size, the blocks were not cut to fit the designs on the T-shirts. Rather the designs were cut to fit a one-size-fits-all block.
If the blocks are cut the same size, your T-shirts with big designs will have the designs cropped off – you don’t want that! Your T-shirts with small designs will be forced to fit on a larger block. They will have a lot of extra blank T-shirt material around the design. This is a waste of space on your quilt.
Read more about the 6 styles of T-shirts here.
What makes a T-shirt quilt's layout interesting? I think it's a layout that will keep your interest. A layout that will keep you looking for different blocks. A layout that is interactive. There are two typical T-shirt quilt layouts: rows and columns and the puzzle style layout.
A rows and column layout will also not force you to look for any particular block because it's easy to remember where a particular block is. It's in the second column, third block down.
Please note, Too Cool T-shirt quilts does not make quilt with one size block. This quilt in the photo here is nothing like a quilt we would make for you here. Don't expect us to make a quilt like this.
Planning a T-shirt quilt?
Here are step-by-step directions for ordering your Too Cool T-shirt quilt.
The layout is interesting. It's difficult to figure out the pattern. You spend a lot of time trying to figure it out. But you can't, because there isn't a pattern.
As you look at your quilt, you come across a particular block and might ask, "where's the other side from that T-shirt?" Then you begin searching for it. As you are looking, you come across other blocks.
This is what's so much fun about it. You are always finding something else to look at. Something else to tell a story about or to remember. This is why a puzzle style T-shirt quilt is interactive.
A quilt like this is dynamic and will keep you looking at the quilt longer and will have you wanting to go back and look at it over and over again.
Read more about the different styles of quilts here.
The materials that goes into a T-shirt quilt effects the quality of that quilt. There are two main materials used in a T-shirt quilt: batting and backing fabric.
On the other hand, a quilt maker who choose 100% cotton or 80% cotton/20% poly needle punched batting is choosing to use the good stuff.
Since batting is hidden in the middle of the quilt, you can't see it. But just because you can't see it, doesn't mean that it won't effect the life and quality of your quilt. Since it is hidden, you will need to ask your quilt maker what type of batting they use.
If you want a quilt that is better than average, you need to make sure you choose a quilt maker using good or great batting. You can read more about batting here.
Low quality materials are those with a low thread count or any amount of polyester. These fabrics will pill. Those are the little balls that form on cheap materials. This will give your backing material an awful texture and will just look cheap.
When you think about backing material, think about how you tell a high quality bed sheet from a cheap one. The thread count should be high and amount of polyester should be zero.
Also, a bed sheet should never be used on the back of a quilt. A bed sheet will always looks like a bed sheet. A quilt maker can always tell.
There is a lot to learn about backing materials. Read everything you need to know to make a good choices for your quilt here.
First, the best T-shirt quilts are quilted. If a quilt is not quilted it's a blanket. Read more about the differences between a quilt and a blankets here.
If a quilt only has a little quilting, it's not the best. One step up from that is an overall quilting pattern. This insures that the quilt won’t come undone, but it’s not interesting. An overall quilting pattern is static and is nothing that you will feel compelled to show off.
If you want the best T-shirt quilt, you need to be able to see the quilting on the back of the quilt.
In the photo above, you can compare the back of a Too Cool T-shirt quilt (black) laid on top of a Campus Quilt T-shirt quilt (pink). The pink quilt is quilted in an over all quilt pattern. There is barely enough quilting to hold the 3 layers together. It's not very interesting.
On the black Too Cool quilt, you see that we traced a motorcycle from the front. This is a lot of fun. And you can see how much more quilting there is. The 3 layers of the quilt are securely held together.
Too Cool T-shirt Quilts customers love the back of their T-shirt quilt as much as they love the front. Which one would you be more excited to share with your friends? Read more about quilting here.
You can find a skilled T-shirt quilt makers who has been making the traditional boring static T-shirt quilts for years. They know how to make this type of quilt, but they aren’t making the best T-shirt quilt. They are just making T-shirt quilts.
You can also find people making puzzle style T-shirt quilts who lack the skills to make them well.
You need a skilled quilt maker who is making puzzle style T-shirt quilts with the right quality materials. Read more about finding a quilt maker here.
If you want the best T-shirt quilt for your T-shirts, expect to pay more. You don't get great for bottom dollar.
You will like whatever T-shirt quilt is made from your T-shirts because they are your T-shirts.
The best T-shirt quilts are quilts that someone would want even if it were made with a complete stranger’s T-shirts. The best T-shirt quilts have more going on than just the T-shirts. They have style, interest and quality.
Want to learn more about T-shirt quilts? Visit our Learning Center.
We have over 200 articles about all aspects of T-shirt quilts.