Sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks. I've been so busy working on several projects. I completed two t-shirt quilts in time for graduation presents! I also finished a baby quilt for my brother's baby who is absolutely adorable!! (I'm not biased at all! 💗 ) I am now working on another t-shirt quilt!
OH! Before I forget...I officially opened my little online shop. It's A Cynch! is open for business! Like the name?? I can't take the credit. My sister came up with it. She's more creative than I am! The link to my Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/IsACynch . As soon as I figure out how to add the Facebook link on this blog, I will.
I also got a new toy to help stabilize t-shirts faster. I bought a heat press. I researched and checked reviews and this one had really good reviews for the price. It is quite heavy though! But what would have taken me an entire day of watching Dr. Who on Amazon while ironing stabilizer onto thirty t-shirts turned into only two hours (YES!!! You heard me right!) using the heat press! That is worth the money in time saved!!
I watched a few YouTube videos on how to properly use it without damaging the shirts. That's a tip for you. When in doubt, watch a YouTube video...actually watch several. YouTube is a great learning tool! Just be aware that some of the videos are more what NOT to do, than what to do, if you know what I mean.
To use a heat press, you need to buy teflon sheets to sandwich the fabric or shirt for protection from the heat. I used 375 degrees for 13 seconds. That worked pretty well. Another tip is that if the shirt has a vinyl design on it already, you need to let it cool before you peel the teflon sheet off. (That's from personal experience!) I can also use the heat press to make t-shirts with vinyl designs! That's on my to do list.
One of the features that make my t-shirt quilts unique is that I like to add extra details. The examples below are for the quilt I am working on now. It is for a friend of mine's daughter who played soccer and is going to college to play soccer! Ok. She is also going to get an education. I found a few digital designs on Etsy and Embroidery Library. I added the name of the school or team mascot to them using my digitizing software. The digitizing software I use is Palette 10 by Babylock. I also did her monogram on one of the squares. I like to do this if I see a blank space on the quilt.
Another embroidery detail I added is her first team name on her first little soccer shirt! That way when they see the shirt on the quilt, they will remember the name of the team.
The last thing I want to share is what I do with the leftover pieces. I got the idea to just sew them together willy-nilly and then cut them into crazy quilt blocks! I put all of the embroidered blocks with the crazy blocks as the center row. This is perfect because there are seven rows in the quilt. I am sewing the rest of the shirt pieces together for her mom as a lap quilt. Then she gets her own quilted memories too!
I will post a picture of the completed quilt when I am done. Hopefully in a few days! Whew! I better get busy!
Happy Quilting Y'All!!!
OH! Before I forget...I officially opened my little online shop. It's A Cynch! is open for business! Like the name?? I can't take the credit. My sister came up with it. She's more creative than I am! The link to my Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/IsACynch . As soon as I figure out how to add the Facebook link on this blog, I will.
I also got a new toy to help stabilize t-shirts faster. I bought a heat press. I researched and checked reviews and this one had really good reviews for the price. It is quite heavy though! But what would have taken me an entire day of watching Dr. Who on Amazon while ironing stabilizer onto thirty t-shirts turned into only two hours (YES!!! You heard me right!) using the heat press! That is worth the money in time saved!!
I watched a few YouTube videos on how to properly use it without damaging the shirts. That's a tip for you. When in doubt, watch a YouTube video...actually watch several. YouTube is a great learning tool! Just be aware that some of the videos are more what NOT to do, than what to do, if you know what I mean.
To use a heat press, you need to buy teflon sheets to sandwich the fabric or shirt for protection from the heat. I used 375 degrees for 13 seconds. That worked pretty well. Another tip is that if the shirt has a vinyl design on it already, you need to let it cool before you peel the teflon sheet off. (That's from personal experience!) I can also use the heat press to make t-shirts with vinyl designs! That's on my to do list.
One of the features that make my t-shirt quilts unique is that I like to add extra details. The examples below are for the quilt I am working on now. It is for a friend of mine's daughter who played soccer and is going to college to play soccer! Ok. She is also going to get an education. I found a few digital designs on Etsy and Embroidery Library. I added the name of the school or team mascot to them using my digitizing software. The digitizing software I use is Palette 10 by Babylock. I also did her monogram on one of the squares. I like to do this if I see a blank space on the quilt.
Another embroidery detail I added is her first team name on her first little soccer shirt! That way when they see the shirt on the quilt, they will remember the name of the team.
The last thing I want to share is what I do with the leftover pieces. I got the idea to just sew them together willy-nilly and then cut them into crazy quilt blocks! I put all of the embroidered blocks with the crazy blocks as the center row. This is perfect because there are seven rows in the quilt. I am sewing the rest of the shirt pieces together for her mom as a lap quilt. Then she gets her own quilted memories too!
I will post a picture of the completed quilt when I am done. Hopefully in a few days! Whew! I better get busy!
Happy Quilting Y'All!!!
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