I want to share the tools and tips that I use to help the quilting process...especially tshirt quilts. The first is an ironing cloth. A hot iron put directly on the vinyl graphic on a tshirt will melt it. It will ruin the shirt and your iron. So use an ironing cloth to cover the graphics on the shirt when you iron. I will do another post on cleaning your iron later.
The second is to use distilled water in the iron to prevent build up and clogging. Or use a light starch. I found Mary Ellen's Best Press spray at the quilt store. It is an alternative to starch, light and smells great.
The third tool is a sheet to help glide the material smoothly under the machine. I bought Sewslip Multi-Purpose Quilting Sheet. It static clings to the sewing machine bed and is slippery on top. The Pellon stabilizer on the back of the shirts causes it to gather and bunch during sewing. This sheet prevents that and helps it along smoothly. I had to cut the hole in the sheet a little bigger to fit over my feed dogs better. An added benefit is this sheet helps when free motion quilting! There is another called Supreme Slider. But I did not like it as well because it did not cling to my machine bed as well as Sewslip does.
Those are some useful tools and tips. I will add more as I come across them. Happy quilting!
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