Quilting advice?

Question

My mother in law passed away last year and as a gift to my fiance and father in law for Christmas I am taking her clothing that he is getting rid of and using them to make a quilt for each of them. This is my first time making a quilt, though I do know how to sew garments etc. and I was wondering if you had any tips to help me out with regards to batting, backing, finishing etc. any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks so much!

Answer 1

First, used fabric isn't recommended for quilts to be used ... but it's ok for sentimental purposes.

I recommend cutting the fabrics into strips and joining the strips end-to-end, always different to different. You can use pieces of uniform length, but random has its own charm.

Fold the mega-length strip in half lengthwise and seam one pair of edges together ... sew sew sew to the end and trim. Open up the seam and fold the new strip in half lengthwise and seam one pair of edges together ... sew sew sew to the end and trim. Repeat, repeat, repeat. When the result seems to be a reasonable size and shape you may make it a bit larger with plain borders, perhaps to match your backing fabric, or you can just make a sandwich with backing and filling and finish.

If you use a "bonded" polyester batting, you could "tack" the top every three inches or so with salvaged buttons and/or other trims rather than actually quilting it.

If you can manage to thread a sewing machine and not get tangled up, you should be able to manage this just fine. The most difficult part will be applying a "binding" to finish it and you might choose to farm that out to a quilt shop or similar, if you're short on time and/or patience.

Answer 2

I have done a lot of these. I gave it up because I couldn't charge enough for the amount of time it takes. So be prepared to work for a few weeks, but it will be worth it.

First, cut up the clothes. Use a rotary cutter and quilter's rulers. There are two strategies: 1. Get the biggest rectangles or straight-sided shapes you can, including triangles. Or 2. Plan a quilt pattern and only take squares of that size and shape.

Save all buttons, bows, and trims.

Iron all fabrics to fusible interfacing, to balance their weights and stabilize stretchy knits.

Start piecing. When you sew a bunch of pieces together, go back over them and sew down the seam allowances. Each piece will now have the seam where it joins the next piece, plus a visible line on either side of that, where you have sewn down the seam allowances. It uses a lot of thread!

After the quilt is tied and bound, go back and trim it with the saved buttons and bows.
.

Answer 3

I truthfully have made countless T-blouse quilts. I cause them to for wall hangings because of the fact the medium is frequently sentimental and would't take standard use and washing. I team them in similarity ex: all group T-shirts. i take advantage of a stretchable iron-on woven interfacing on the backs on the sections i'm applying to stabilize them. in case you like extra guidance, please touch me and that i'd be satisfied to furnish any information I truthfully have. good good fortune, you're making powerful strategies. Karen