Choose Your Quilt Maker Carefully!
Picking the right T-shirt quilt maker is a big deal. After all, you’re trusting someone to turn your T-shirts—your memories—into something you’ll love and use for years to come. Not all quilt makers are created equal, and choosing the wrong quilt maker might leave you with a quilt you may not love. That’s why it’s so important to know what to look in a quilt maker before you even start your search.
This guide has everything you need to make the best choice for your needs. From the different types of quilt makers to the key skills to look for and whether a local option is right for you, with the right info, you’ll be able to find someone who can transform your T-shirts into the quilt of your dreams.
Table of Contents
5 Typical Types of T-shirt Quilt Makers
Skills to Look for in a T-shirt Quilt Maker
T-shirt Quilt Makers Near Me - Are They My Best Option?
Where Can I Find A T-shirt Quilt Maker?
Questions to Ask Your T-shirt Quilt Maker
5 Typical Types of T-shirt Quilt Makers
Not every T-shirt quilt maker starts their journey the same way, but they all share a common goal: turning T-shirts into quilts and blankets. So, how do you choose the right quilt maker for your project?
Let’s break down the different types of T-shirt quilt makers, explore how they got started, and help you understand what to expect when you trust them with your T-shirts.
- The Reluctant T-shirt Quilt Maker
- The DYI T-shirt Quilt Maker
- The Hobbyist T-shirt Quilt Makers
- The Professional T-shirt Quilt Makers
- The Industrial T-shirt Quilt or Blanket Makers
1. The Reluctant T-shirt Quilt Maker
The reluctant T-shirt quilt maker comes from the world of traditional quilting. They may have been quilting a few years or for as long as they can remember. Their friends and family know that they are a quilt maker. That’s why they have are asked to make a T-shirt quilt.
Agreeing to make a T-shirt quilt for a family member or friend will result in a learning curve for the quilt maker. They may not know how to make a T-shirt quilt and will have to figure out this project.
Agreeing to make your quilt will cost them time and money.
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2. The DYI T-shirt Quilt Maker
This is someone who looks at a T-shirt quilt and says, “What’s so difficult about that?” This might be you. And that’s ok! Not everyone who makes a T-shirt quilt began as a traditional quilt maker. Some look at the project and feel they could make it themselves.
Here’s my warning:
I have seen so many T-shirt quilts that were started and never completed. I have finished a lot of projects that were a mess. Know what you are getting into before you begin!
Here’s my advice:
Choose a pattern or directions that are complete. Your directions should take you through all the steps of the project. There are a lot of bad directions on the Internet that will get you into trouble. Choose a method that has a skilled professional T-shirt quilt maker behind it.
Watch out for someone who wrote down their directions as they made their first quilt. These are not directions you want to follow. And for the love of all things holy, do not make a T-shirt Quilt by gluing the T-shirts together.
Here’s a link to the Too Cool T-shirt Quilt directions. This book was initially published in 2005. It has stood the test of time!
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The Hobbyist T-shirt Quilt Makers
A hobbyist makes T-shirt quilts because it’s fun and they enjoys making them. It’s their hobby. If you ask them to make you one, they might be happy to make it.
A hobbyist typically doesn’t have a website. They get occasional business from Facebook or word of mouth. Making one to two quilts a month is a great month for them.
Making T-shirt quilts is not their full time job. It’s a hobby they can make a little extra money from. This means that they doesn’t have anything to lose if something goes wrong with your quilt. They do not a professional reputation to protect.
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The Professional T-shirt Quilt Makers
A professional T-shirt quilt maker makes T-shirt quilts for a living. They will have a website. They will have a number of years of experience. They depend upon what they makes to put food on their table. They rely on their professional reputation. If something goes wrong with your quilt, they have a lot to lose.
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The Industrial T-shirt Quilt or Blanket Makers
There are only a few industrial T-shirt quilt or blanket companies. There are a number of things that set an industrial T-shirt quilt or blanket company apart from professional quilt makers.
First is the number of quilts they make in a year. Once a professional quilt or blanket maker makes more than 2000 quilts a year, they are starting to move into the industrial sector of the industry. If a company makes 5,000 to 50,000 quilts or blankets a year, then they are industrial.
Second, is your ability to call and talk to your quilt maker about a special request or ask a question. Typically an industrial quilt or blanket company is just making too many quilts or blankets to be able to help in this fashion.
And third, is how the company was founded. Many of the back-stories of industrial quilt or blanket companies are not that of being founded by a quilt maker. Rather they were founded as a MBA project or for some other reason. A quilt maker did not start them.
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Summary - Types of T-shirt Quilt Makers
Which of these 5 types of T-shirt quilters you choose will depend on your circumstance, your budget and your expectations.
- If you have a very limited budget and don’t know any quilt makers, you might consider an industrial company.
- If you know a quilt maker or someone who has made a T-shirt quilt, this might be your starting point.
- If you have a decent budget you might look to a hobbyist.
- If you have very high expectations and a great budget I would suggest looking to a professional T-shirt quilt company such as Too Cool T-shirt Quilts.
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Planning a T-shirt quilt?
Here are step-by-step directions for ordering your Too Cool T-shirt quilt.
Skills to Look for in a T-shirt Quilt Maker
When choosing a T-shirt quilt maker, there are six critical skills to look for: Sewing, Artistry, Quilting, Time Management, Organization and Cleanliness.
In this section, we'll delve into each skill, explaining what it entails and how to identify if your quilt maker possesses it. These skills are key indicators of quality and craftsmanship. While having these skills doesn't guarantee a perfect quilt, lacking them significantly reduces the chances of achieving a high-quality T-shirt quilt.
Sewing
Yes, you need to hire someone who is an experienced sewer. But this person needs to also be an accurate sewer. You can hire a person who has been sewing for 50 years, but if they are a sloppy sewer, their experience counts for nothing.
Don’t take someone’s word that they can sew well. Rather, look at their work with a critical eye.
- Look for seams that are coming apart.
- Look at the intersection of four corners. Do they come together perfectly? If not, this is a sign of sloppy work that could have been easily fixed.
- Look for tucks and ruffling in the seams.
- Look for curved seams.
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Artistry
A T-shirt quilt should be a work of art. Not a paint by numbers. Look at photos of a lot of different quilts. Know what you like, and then make sure your quilter can make a quilt like you want.
Look at the following features in a quilt maker's quilts to see if they have a good eye. You will need to look at a number of their quilts to see if these features are consistent from quilt to quilt.
- Use of Color
Do the colors added to the quilt look good with the T-shirts? You will want to look at the backing color, the binding color, the border color, or any other added color in the quilt. Do these added colors look good? - Over All Placement of the T-shirts
Are the colors of the T-shirts spread out evenly through out the quilt? One of the things you can look for is clumps of colors on the quilt. Or look for clumps of light and dark areas. Most of the time, colored T-shirts blocks and light and dark blocks should be spread out evenly through out the quilt. - Specific Placement of the T-shirts
Did you know that graphics on your T-shirts can set your eyes in motion? If a character is looking to the right, your eyes will look that way to see what they are looking. I know this sounds weird, but it your human response of empathy. You are putting yourself in someone else's shoes.
What does this have to do with T-shirt quilts? My goal as a quilt maker is to keep you looking at your quilt for a long as possible. If I put Mickey Mouse looking right, on the right hand side of the quilt, this will draw your eyes off the quilt. There might be something over there that catches your attention. This means I failed to keep you interacting with your quilt.
Although this might seem like a small thing, the consequences of not understanding this concept can effect your quilt. It might make your quilt not quite right. You might not know specifically what's wrong, but you will know that something is wrong.
Quilting
Long-arm quilting is a skill that your T-shirt quilt maker should have.
There are 4 typical quilting methods used for T-shirt quilts. Read more about these methods here. Remember, if there is no quilting, you are looking at a blanket. And a blanket and a quilt are not the same thing! The best quilting is long-arm quilting.
One type of long-arm quilting is done by a computer. The quilt maker just presses a button and walks away. Quilting with this computerized method does not take any skill or artistry. And it will show in your quilt.
In the photograph here, the black quilt on the left is quilted with a skilled long-arm quilter. This is a Too Cool T-shirt Quilt quilt. Compare it to the pink quilt on the right. This was quilted by a Campus Quilts. You can see that they do an overall pattern of loops. There is a huge difference between the two.
Here at Too Cool T-shirt Quilts, all our quilts are quilted by artists. The long-arm quilting machines are operated by hand. We draw on the quilts with the stitching. A quilt that is quilted by an artist is interesting and the quilting is unique to your quilt.
Time Management
How long will you have to wait until your quilt is returned? I have heard stories of waiting for over 5 years for a quilt!! Others have had to ask for their T-shirts to be returned.
Some quilters have a lot of quilts in their queue... more work than they can complete in 6 months! Other quilters work full time and quilt in their spare time. These and other situations will influence how long you will have to wait for your quilt.
Ask how long it will take to make your quilt. 6 to 8 weeks is industry standard. If it will take your quilt maker longer than 8 weeks, ask why. In the spring for graduation time and for Christmas, wait times might be longer.
Organization
This is huge! You don't want someone else's T-shirt to end up in your quilt! As a quilt maker, even the thought of this, is a nightmare.
Since I began making T-shirt quilts in the early 1990's, I have implemented a number of procedures that keep me from being able to mix up T-shirts between quilts. These processes also make sure that your directions are attached to your quilt from start to finish.
Does your quilter have a system to keep your quilt separated from other quilts? How is your quilt stored when it is not being worked on? Ask. You don’t want someone else’s T-shirt to end up in your quilt! Ask!
Cleanliness
A T-shirt quilt shop is a linty place! We have to vacuum every day. But there are other areas of cleanliness that you need to consider: smoking, pets and mold.
If you drop off your T-shirts, take a whiff before you let go of your T-shirts. Are you OK with the smell?
If you are mailing your T-shirts to the quilter, you can ask if the quilt is made in a smoke free location. You don't want your quilt to stink when you get it back.
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T-shirt Quilt Makers Near Me - Are They My Best Option?
Are you looking for someone local to make your T-shirt quilt? Perhaps you are scared of mailing you T-shirts to someone you don’t know?
In this section, I will address your fear of sending your T-shirts to someone far away and who you don't know. I will also address why choosing a quilt maker just because they are local might be worse that sending T-shirts to a quilter you don't know.
Fears of Shipping Your T-shirts to Someone You Don’t Know
Shipping T-shirts
I have been making T-shirt quilts since 1992. I have not had a shipment of T-shirts coming to me that has been lost. These days with package tracking and delivery signatures required, losing a package is rare. Here is a article with best practices for shipping your T-shirts.
Sending Your T-shirts to Someone You Don’t Know
Unless you really are great friends with someone who makes T-shirt quilts for a living, you really don’t know whom you are handing over your T-shirts to. Just because you can see someone face to face, doesn’t mean that you know who they are.
Consider an individual without a website, without a reputation for making great quilts and who is just making T-shirt quilts to make a few extra dollars. What do they have to lose when they fail to meet your expectations?
Then consider a company like Too Cool T-shirt Quilts. We have a worldwide reputation for making awesome T-shirt quilts. There are 25 families depending on the company for their livelihoods. We have so much to lose if we don’t meet your expectations. Sure, you might not see us face to face, but our long history of making "too cool" T-shirt quilts is our introduction to you.
Things to consider about choosing a T-shirt quilt maker just because she is local:
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Are they a skilled T-shirt quilt maker?
Don’t just take your neighbor's word that they are. First, learn everything you can about T-shirt quilts. Then ask to see examples. Do the examples live up to what you expected? If not, find another quilter. -
Is the local quilter making the style of T-shirt quilt you want?
There are many styles of T-shirt quilts. Make sure your quilter is an expert in the style you want. Be sure to look beyond just the structure of the quilt. Are they doing the intricate long-arm quilting? If not, find another quilter. -
How many T-shirt quilts have they made in the style you want?
It’s takes more than 2 or 3 quilts. It takes 100’s to make a quilter competent. Even more to be an expert. Too Cool T-shirt Quilts invented T-shirt quilts made with multiple size blocks in the early 1990's! We are the experts. -
Is the local quilter making the entire quilt?
If your local quilter ships your T-shirt quilt out for long-arm quilting, they is not making the entire quilt themselves. Ask that question! "Are you making the entire quilt at your location?" If they send your quilt out for quilting, why bother with someone local? At least if you choose to send it out, you know where it is going and who will be working on it. -
What materials is the local quilter using?
High quality materials are a must for an awesome T-shirt quilt. Ask what materials are being used. If a 100% cotton backing and binding are not being used, think again! Also the batting should be either 100% cotton or an 80% cotton/20% poly. The latter is the best choice. A 100% polyester batting is a no-no. If the materials are less than these, choose a different quilter. -
Is the quilter making working in a smoker free location?
This is a question that should be asked of any quilt maker. Choose a 100% smoke free home or workshop. Too Cool T-shirt Quilts is 100% smoke free. -
What's the turn around time of the local quilt maker?
A turn around time of 4 to 6 weeks is industry standard. If the turn around time is longer, this quilt maker might not have enough time to devote to your quilt or have too many quilts to focus on your quilt.
Professional T-shirt quilt makers make the best T-shirt quilts. They have the right equipment, time to devote to the quilt-making process and most importantly, years of practice. Make sure that your quilter is a professional. This might mean seeking a quilter that is out of your local community.
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Planning a T-shirt quilt?
Here are step-by-step directions for ordering your Too Cool T-shirt quilt.
Where Can I Find A T-shirt Quilt Maker?
If you are in the process of looking for a T-shirt quilt maker, you may be overwhelmed all the options and choices available. Here are 3 steps to finding a T-shirt quilt maker who can make you the quilt you want. But, don’t begin at step 2 – asking around about quilt makers.
Step #1
Before you find a T-shirt maker, you need to learn enough about T-shirt quilts that you can answer the following questions.
What do you want your T-shirt quilt to look like?
Read more about the different styles of T-shirt quilts here.
Do you want a quilt or a blanket?
Read more about the differences between a quilt and a blanket here.
When do want your quilt back by?
The industry standard time frame for the completion of a T-shirt quilt is 4 to 6 weeks. Near Christmas and during spring graduation, this time frame may be longer.
What is your budget?
T-shirt quilts range from free if someone who loves you is making the quilt to over $1000. How much do you want to spend on your quilt? The answer to this question will partially depend upon your budget and partially depend upon the style and type of T-shirt quilt you want made from your T-shirts. There are a number of cost factors that go into the cost of a quilt. Read more about those here.
What quality of materials do you want your quilt to be made from?
Because you wear clothes (well at least I assume you do) you know the difference between cheap feeling materials and those that are quality. It’s the same story for quilts. The higher the quality materials used, the better the quilt will feel and wear. But you will pay more for a quilt made from high quality materials than you will for one made from cheap material.
Ask your quilter what type of materials she uses. Read more about the quality of quilting materials here so you can understand what you are being told.
Step #2
Ask around about T-shirt quilt makers. Although it might not be intuitive, asking around about quilters is actually your 2nd step in the process of finding a quilt maker, not the first.
Here is a list of people and places to ask about T-shirt quilt makers:
- Ask your friends or family if they know of someone.
- At work, the gym or your place of worship.
- Visit a local quilt fabric store.
- Call your local quilt guild.
- Look on the Internet.
Step #3
Interview the quilters that have been recommended to you. In the next section, you will find a list of questions to ask your quilt maker.
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10 Questions to Ask Your T-shirt Quilt Maker
When you are planning a T-shirt quilt, first learn as much as you can about T-shirt quilts – there is a lot to know. Next find a quilt maker. When you think that you have found someone, take time to either interview them and/or get the answers to these questions from their website.
If you know ahead of time what you can expect, you won't end up with a T-shirt quilt that will break your heart.
Here are the questions to ask your quilt maker. Click on the question if you want to jump to a specific one:
- What style of quilt do you make?
- Are you making quilts or blankets?
- Are your quilts long-arm machine quilted?
- What quality materials are you using in your quilts?
- What is your turn around time?
- How many quilts have you made in the style I want?
- Are you making the entire quilt?
- Are you a smoker?
- Are you a professional quilt maker or a hobbyist?
- Can I see your work and/or can I see photos of your quilt?
- Skills to look for in a T-shirt Quilt Maker
1. What Style of Quilts Do You Make?
There are 6 major styles of T-shirt quilts. Here’s a brief explanation of each:
Traditional Block Style with Sashing: All the square blocks are cut the same size. This block size is typically 12” x 12” or 14” x 14”. These blocks are laid out in columns and rows which are divided by vertical and horizontal strips of fabric
Traditional Block Style without Sashing: Again, all the blocks are cut the same size. These square blocks are also usually 12” x 12” or 14” x 14”. The blocks are again lined up in rows and columns, but the sashing (the fabric dividing the rows and columns) is omitted.
Unequal Rows or Columns: This style of T-shirt quilt is typically built with columns of blocks, but the columns are different widths. This type of quilt might have a column that is 16”, followed by a 6” wide column followed by a 12” column and so on. The style was developed to help quilters compensate for the different size graphics on T-shirts.
Crazy Quilt: The designs on the T-shirts are cut out randomly around the graphics. These blocks are glued to a single piece of fabric or bed sheet and then zigzagged down.
The Too Cool Style AKA: Variable or Puzzle Style: The graphics on the T-shirts are cut into different block sizes and shapes based on the size of the design on the T-shirts. The blocks are puzzled together so that there are neither columns nor rows.
The Stained-glass Too Cool Style: It is very similar to our Too Cool style - but with an added kick that is the leading. The leading is a very thin line of color between the blocks. It looks like a stained-glass window.
Don't assume that a quilt maker can or will make your quilt in the style you want. Ask for the style by name. If you don’t know what style of quilt you want, you can read more about the 6 styles of T-shirt quilts here.
Some quilters offer a number of different styles of T-shirt quilts. As non-traditional styles are growing in popularity, a quilt maker may add different styles to their repertoire. How experienced is this quilt maker in making the type of quilt you want? Anything less than 100 probably represents less than a year or two of making quilts in the style. You can easily find quilters with more experience.
These are your favorite T-shirts – find an experienced professional to make your quilt. There’s no going back.
2. Are You Making Quilts or Blankets?
This question will help distinguish between the very cheap and better quality. A T-shirt blanket is made up of two layers – the top, which is the T-shirts and the back, which is another type of material. In T-shirt blankets the backing may be fleece or flannel. The two layers are not connected.
Quilts are made from three layers; the quilt top which is made from T-shirts, the batting which is in the middle and the backing material. Quilting holds these three layers together.
Someone making blankets generally is not a seasoned professional quilter. Very few quilters will choose to make blankets. They are not what quilters are about.
Typically, someone making blankets does not have the equipment and perhaps the skills to be making quilts. A blanket can be well made, but it is not a quilt. If you want a T-shirt quilt, don’t settle for a T-shirt blanket.
3. Are Your Quilts Long-arm Machine Quilted?
A long-arm quilting machine moves over the stationary three layers of a quilt. A computer or a human can control a long-arm quilting machine. There are a number of different ways a long-arm quilting machine can be used. Here is a definition of each technique:
Computerized Long Arm Quilting: When the quilting is computerized, the T-shirt quilt is stitched with an overall quilting pattern. The same design is repeated over and over on the quilt.
Non-Computerized Long Arm Quilting: This method uses the same long-arm quilting machine but a human operates it from either the front or back of the machine.
Operated from the Back of the Machine –The operator works from the back of the machine following a printed paper pattern on the bed of the sewing machine with a laser pointer.
Operated from the Front of the Machine – The machine is operated from the front the machine and the artist “draws” with the machine. The designs being quilted can be exclusively tailored to the particular block that is being worked on rather than in an overall pattern.
The best T-shirt quilts are those in which each block is quilted with a unique pattern.
4. What Quality of Materials Are You Using in Your Quilts?
The quality of materials a quilter uses sets a baseline quality level for their quilts. A quilt can be expertly made, but if it is made with low quality materials, the materials may speak louder than the craft. It will feel like a less quality item.
There are three major materials used in a T-shirt quilt: fabric, batting & thread.
Fabric
There are so many different fabrics available for quilters to choose from. Fabric ranges from very inexpensive, thin polyester fabrics that feel awful to high quality 100% cotton fabrics that feel great. The higher the quality material a quilter uses, the higher the quilt will cost because higher quality fabrics cost more. At the minimum, you want your quilters to be using a high quality 100% cotton fabric.
Batting
Batting is the "stuffing" in the middle of a quilt. It is the insulation that goes between the quilt top and the backing fabric. There are many types of battings such as polyester, cotton, cotton/poly blends, wool, and bamboo.
As with fabric, there are many different options for a quilter to choose from. The best batting for T-shirt quilts is a 20% polyester/80% cotton –needle punched batting. Read more about batting here.
Thread
You can’t tell if a low-quality thread has been used to make your quilt until perhaps your quilt falls apart. There are some very cheap threads out there that will not stand the test of time! Ask your quilter if she uses a high-quality thread.
5. What Is Your Turn Around Time?
4 to 6 weeks is industry standard. It may take a little longer around spring graduation and Christmas. A quilter that says 3 months or more might have more quilts than they can get to or have other obligations. Try to find a professional quilter that can balance their time and workload.
6. How Many Quilts Have You Made in the Style I Want?
The more quilts that someone has made in the style you want, the better. You probably want to shy away from a novice and perhaps an intermediate quilter. I still run into hurdles and I have made over 10,000 quilts!
- Novice Quilter: 1 – 15
- Intermediate Quilter: 15 to 200
- The Advanced Quilter: 200 to 600
- The Expert Quilter: Over 600
Below - just a few T-shirt quilts we made in the past few months.
7. Are You Making the Entire Quilt?
Some quilters will only make the quilt top and send the completed top out for someone else to finish. This means that you will have no idea who is working on your quilt or where it will be sent. If someone is only making part of your quilt, this is a sign that the quilter is not a professional because they do not have all the equipment needed to make your quilt or the skill to use rented equipment.
8. Are You a Smoker?
If you are not a smoker, you won’t want to send your T-shirts to a smoker. Smelly!
9. Are You a Professional Quilt Maker or a Hobbyist?
A professional earns a living making quilts. They are devoted to making T-shirt quilts full time. And most importantly, they have a reputation at stake with every quilt they make. The outcome of your quilt is important to their livelihood.
The hobbyist on the other hand, makes quilts because they like to make quilts. But it’s not their livelihood. And if your quilt doesn’t go well, it doesn’t impact their income. A hobbyist also is not making as many quilts as a professional.
These are your T-shirts and it’s your quilt. You need to decide whether a professional or hobbyist is the way you want to go.
10. Can I See Your Work and/or Can I See Photos of Your Quilt?
The answer should be yes. If you can’t see the quilts in person, study the photographs of a number of different quilts. If you are not sure what to look for in a photograph of a quilt, click here to read about how to judge a quilt from a photograph.
Here is a link to this list of interview questions that you can download and print out.
Conclusion
Choosing a T-shirt quilt maker doesn’t have to be stressful. It’s about finding someone who gets how much your T-shirts mean to you and can turn them into something you’ll love for years. Take your time, do your research, and trust your gut. When you end up with a quilt that feels like a warm hug from your memories, you’ll know it was worth it.
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