Hi, there, KPers. Years ago (maybe 10) I made a t-shirt quilt for my nephew using his favorite shirts from when he was growing up. I have made similar ones for both daughters using their HS band shirts. My sister brought me his today and I have never seen a worse quilt disaster! My one daughter has used hers for almost 23 years as a blanket, a picnic throw...etc. It has held up very well. My nephew's is a total disaster! Many of the t-shirts were white. The whole thing now is a light beige color. But worst of all is the batting. I always have used warm and natural cotton batting in my homemade quilts which is what I did in this one. My sister said she washed the quilt a few days ago and it is still damp to the touch. If you lay it on your lap you can feel the dampness. And the batting is a total wreck. It is almost non-existent in some places, very thin and hole-y in other places. I am taking it apart and replacing the batting with polyester and I will yarn tie it here and there. It is more of a coverlet right now with no quilting or ties on it. The ones I made for the girls are just big squares stitched around the outsides. Anyone have any ideas at all of what happened to this thing? My sister said her son loves it tremendously and is sick about its condition right now, as for sure am I. Was it a bad batch of batting? I have made a quilt for my BFF years ago and she has washed it and uses it all the time with no disaster like this. No clues here about this one and any ideas would be appreciated. I was sick when I saw this mess today. I might post a picture tomorrow but in the meantime ...anyone?? I'm off to JoAnn's for something different tomorrow or Fri and will show it to someone there with hopes of getting some info that is helpful. Tx..jberg
Quilting question...it has turned into a disaster!
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jberg
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Hi, there, KPers. Years ago (maybe 10) I made a t-shirt quilt for my nephew using his favorite shirts from when he was growing up. I have made similar ones for both daughters using their HS band shirts. My sister brought me his today and I have never seen a worse quilt disaster! My one daughter has used hers for almost 23 years as a blanket, a picnic throw...etc. It has held up very well. My nephew's is a total disaster! Many of the t-shirts were white. The whole thing now is a light beige color. But worst of all is the batting. I always have used warm and natural cotton batting in my homemade quilts which is what I did in this one. My sister said she washed the quilt a few days ago and it is still damp to the touch. If you lay it on your lap you can feel the dampness. And the batting is a total wreck. It is almost non-existent in some places, very thin and hole-y in other places. I am taking it apart and replacing the batting with polyester and I will yarn tie it here and there. It is more of a coverlet right now with no quilting or ties on it. The ones I made for the girls are just big squares stitched around the outsides. Anyone have any ideas at all of what happened to this thing? My sister said her son loves it tremendously and is sick about its condition right now, as for sure am I. Was it a bad batch of batting? I have made a quilt for my BFF years ago and she has washed it and uses it all the time with no disaster like this. No clues here about this one and any ideas would be appreciated. I was sick when I saw this mess today. I might post a picture tomorrow but in the meantime ...anyone?? I'm off to JoAnn's for something different tomorrow or Fri and will show it to someone there with hopes of getting some info that is helpful. Tx..jberg
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Quilting is suggested to be no more than 4 inches apart so the batting is secure with handling, if that be the case, but sounds like a really bad batch of batting to me. As for color turning, try some oxy and soak in deep water for awhile, use a color catcher sheet in the dryer.
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The answer is in yiur poat. From what you say all the quilts given were well loved and used but have held up well. The only one that didn’t was given to a male, the rest to girls.
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I also think it was mistreated over the years but I dare not say that to my sister! I also think it was bad batting as it is in such horrible shape. tx for the replies......jberg
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That batting did not stand up to love and laundry! I am so glad he used it !
My GDs baby quilt deteriorated according to color. 100% cotton. Lavender went first, then the pink and mint green, the white is as pristine as it could be. She cherishes that quilt. It has been to a dozen soccer tournaments, dozens of sleep overs, many trips, etc. She is 20 and just lately lovingly placed it in a storage bag. Myself and other grandma have zigzagged it many times in many areas. If a hole erupted, in went the Polly Pop Ups for a sleep.
Warm and Natural batting can be quilted up to 10" apart. I have used it for years and have never had a batting act like that. Is it possible she bleached the quilt? You could possible contact the Warm and Natural folks and see if they have any ideas. Some people sew an "X" in T shirt quilts to give extra stability depending on the size of each block. Did you use an interfacing stabilizer on the back of the T shirt to prevent shifting? Seems like the yellowish material is some other reaction of chemicals than would be unusual in a quilt. Good luck!
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I have never seen batting like that! I think something is definitely amiss! It's nice that all your quilts made such a hit. My grandson brought his single size quilt back when he was getting married to ask for it bigger. It was a denim and I was able to match the material and happy he cared that much.
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Checked the mess earlier. Yes, I did use a stabilizer on the backs of the t-shirts. An I did stitch around the outside of each block to "quilt" it. This is gonna be a time-consuming project that I'm not really looking forward to. If it wasn't my sister (and we are still dealing with the death of my twin) I would just pitch the whole thing. I found pix of the original and you wouldn't believe the
difference!
![Image]()
![Image]()
Thanks all for your input. Happy Needling. jberg
difference!
Thanks all for your input. Happy Needling. jberg
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He may have abused it, but that could also mean it was well loved. But the batting does look like a disaster. Hope the "remake" goes well.
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I wonder if the stabilizer stiffened and crumbled and acted like a sandpaper on the batting as the quilt was loved and laundered.
When you say you quilted around each block, did you quilt through all three layers (top, batting and back) or you sewed around each separate T-shirt motif? If you quilted through all three layers it looks like your quilting thread failed or you pulled out all the quilting already (which would be the worst job).
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Thanks for all of the responses to this mess. I have cut out all of the bad batting and after soaking the whole thing at least six different times it looks pretty darn good. Wish I had take a picture of the "before." I soaked it in combinations of oxygen-clean, detergent, Simple Green, baking soda, Dawn dish soap....not all at the same time.. I really think that the thing had never been washed in the 10-15 years or so but was being used. The water was in a word "filthy." The squares are not the original white now but at least you can make out the pictures and writing and the colors are bright. I did stitch through all three layers when I first made it. I have now bought polyester batting (which I hate) and after patching some of the squares and restitching the ones that need it I will put the whole thing back together. I will give it back with a note: " I will not redo this again. If you are not going to use it pack it away now while it is clean. If you do use it you must wash it at least once a month." I've also given thought to the fact that maybe moths demolished the batting. Anyhow. When I have the time I will put this thing back together and consider it a present for my sister. Thanks all for your input. jberg
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Thanks for all of the responses. I gave the quilt to my sister the other day to give to her son. It was by no means my best job but I just wanted to get it out of my house. I patched up what I could, used polyester batting (yuck) and just enveloped it all together. She is to tell my nephew that I will not fix it again and he is to take care of it. This was a "family" project since the death of my twin on June 1; I was doing it to keep some family togetherness in JImmy's name. Take care all.....jberg
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