Wednesday, September 9, 2009

How to Make a T-Shirt Quilt: Part 2

Now that all the t-shirts are trimmed and fused to a stabilizer, it's time to measure each one.  First measure the width of an emblem horizontally.  The goal here is to get the minimum FINISHED measure that this block can be, and then round it up to the nearest EVEN number.

For example, if the emblem is 13.25 inches wide, round up to 14.  If the emblem is 12.5 inches long, round up to 14.  We always want an even number.  Note that this is a finished size.  We'll worry about seam allowances later.  Also, we're only measuring now!  It's not time for the final cutting yet! 
Then measure in the same way vertically, again rounding up to the nearest EVEN number.
Next, assign the shirt a number and record a brief description of the emblem.  In this example this is the NUMBER 1 block, and I've recorded it as "Off to Work."  Now record the measurements you took, ALWAYS putting the horizontal measurement first.  In this example, the minimum finished size of this block is 16" across (horizontally) by 6" tall (vertically).
Measure all the t-shirt blocks in the same manner, recording the results.  Can you see that I have no ODD numbers?  This will be very helpful later.
In Part 3, we'll determine the layout of the blocks.  Grab some graph paper and a pencil for this step, and stay tuned!

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