Today, we delve deeper into our t-shirt quilt series, guiding you through the colourful journey to make a t-shirt quilt that’s as unique as your memories. This installment is a treasure trove of visual inspiration, with detailed photographs to ensure every step of your sashing addition is crystal clear.
Whether you enjoy learning through motion and sound, I’ve got you covered! Alongside this photo-heavy tutorial, you’ll find my comprehensive YouTube video tutorial – a perfect companion to enhance your crafting experience.
Whether you’re a reader or a video viewer, this guide will make adding sashing to your t-shirt quilt an enjoyable and fulfilling project. Let’s stitch together a masterpiece that warms the heart as much as the body!
YouTube Tutorial
Storytelling Through Your T-Shirt Quilt Layout
In the last tutorial, we prepped our t-shirts with interfacing to make them stiff and non-stretchy.
As you piece together your quilt top, remember that the arrangement is about aesthetics and the stories you wish to weave into the fabric. A thoughtfully laid-out t-shirt quilt can encapsulate memories, milestones, and moments.
For the Alpha Omega sorority quilt, the shirts featured significant elements on both the front and back. To avoid a monotonous cluster, I opted not to place these dual-designed shirts beside one another. Instead, positioning them diagonally ensures each story shines through without compromising the quilt’s diverse visual appeal.
As we inch closer to the grand unveiling, you’ll witness the careful consideration behind every placed piece. This underscores the essence of making a t-shirt quilt that’s as rich in narrative as it is in warmth.
Step-by-Step Guide to Adding Sashing to Your T-Shirt Quilt
Step One: Line Up Your Sashing
After determining the order of your quilts, add a 2.5-inch sashing to the inner edges of the t-shirt blocks.
Ensure that the right sides of the fabric on both your shirt and the shirt face each other.
Line it up along the edge.
Once it is placed how you want it, you’re going to sew using a quarter-inch seam.
Step Two: Sew The Sash
You’re going to go all the way to the end of the shirt block and then you’re going to trim it.
Step Three: Add Sashing To Inside Squares
Continue assembling the sashing only on the inside squares.
Do not add sashing to the external edges of each row as these will be fitted with a longer border piece instead.
Step Four: Add Sashing To Make A Row
Attach a long strip to each row after your rows are assembled.
Step Five: Where To Add Long Sashing Strips
You will only add long strips of sashing to the top row of the quilt. For subsequent rows, you will only have sashing on the bottom.
If you do the top and bottom to all of the rows, you will have doubled up the sashing when it is pieced together, and we don’t want that.
Remember, put the right sides together and use a ¼-inch sewing seam.
Step Six: Pin The Rows Together
Your sashing is done on the inside and now on the top and bottom of each row.
Be careful to line up the shirts so they look straight. To do this, place one row on top of the other so you can see the t-shirts on both rows.
You can use a ruler or a straight edge to ensure it is lined up. Get your pins and mark on the sashing where the t-shirt on the previous row sits.
Step Seven: Sew The Rows Together
Now that you have pinned or marked, you are ready to sew the rows together with the fabric right sides together.
Before you sew, confirm your t-shirts are in the correct direction.
As you sew, ensure that the t-shirt edges line up with these pins.
Step Eight: Left and Right Borders
Depending on your personal preference, you can choose to have mitered corners, or you could put a small block to make a corner border to your quilt.
Check out these Top 13 Free Quilt Border Ideas That Will Make Your Quilt Stand Out to customize your quilt even further.
Step Nine: Your Quilt Top Is Complete
Now you should have a nicely gridded quilt top.
The Emotional Significance Of A Handmade T-Shirt Quilt
As we wrap up this detailed tutorial on how to add sashing when you make a t-shirt quilt, I hope that you feel empowered and inspired to tackle your quilting project.
From selecting and prepping your beloved t-shirts to the final stitching of rows, each step will help you create a quilt that is not only visually appealing but also rich with personal history.
Remember, the unique aspect of making a t-shirt quilt lies in its ability to tell a story — your story. Every section of sashing and every square of fabric encapsulates a special moment or memory, turning the quilt into a tapestry of your life’s highlights.
The tips and techniques provided here, paired with visual aids from the blog and accompanying video tutorial, will guide you through the process, ensuring that every seam you sew adds to the narrative you wish to preserve.
Whether you’re crafting this quilt for yourself, as a heartfelt gift for a loved one, or as a cherished heirloom to pass down through generations, the personal touch of a custom t-shirt quilt offers warmth that extends beyond the physical. It weaves together the threads of past experiences in a way that’s tangible and lasting.
Thank you for following along on this creative journey to make a t-shirt quilt. I can’t wait to see how yours turns out. Happy quilting!
Other posts in this series:
- How to Make a T-Shirt Quilt: Preparing the Shirts
- How To Tell A Story with Your Shirt Layout
- T-Shirt Quilt Final Reveal
This post was originally published on March 10, 2016.
2 Comments
I watched your video to the end, but I didn’t see what to do with the left-hand side of the quilt that has no sashing on.
Hi Mary,
You would be doing the left and right sides with sashing after the top and bottom. I updated Step Eight with some options for you.
Thanks for the catch and hope this helps!
Elizabeth