T shirt quilt finished

I finished the t-shirt quilt, and I am so very pleased with this one.  It is 105" square, so I couldn't fit it all in the photo, but you get the idea.

For the quilting I wanted a design that was flexible so I could work it around patches and buttons, yet still give some texture to the finished quilt.  I made up this double line with random circles, and I think it works well.  I was able to work around the buttons that were on a couple of the blocks, and the blocks with real heave latex logos, I could limit the stitching in those areas, yet it still balanced out.

Here you can see the double line with a circle quilting.  

For the back, orange, the athletes favorite, and green to tie in with the sashing. 

A few questions I have received, and some things I learned while working on this quilt.

I did not use interfacing to stabilize the knit fabric.  I did iron each shirt, using starch, and when I layed the shirt out before cutting, I made sure not to distort or stretch it.  I stitched all edges of the knit fabric with woven sashing, and that stabilized it just fine.  I knew the size I cut the blocks, so I made sure to pre-cut the sashing, and then sewed the knit to the sashing, which ensured accurate measurements.

I have never used another brand of longarm, but I was thrilled that my Innova had no troubles with this quilt.  I did slow down while going through the heavily printed logos, and through the patches, and the multi layers that ended up on some of the blocks.  I used monopoly thread on the top and white Sew Fine in the bobbin.  

So, I am between quilts now, and I am looking forward to a visit from a friend this weekend.  She is coming home from a Cindy Needham quilt retreat where she is learning FMQ on her domestic machine.  It will be fun to share quilting techniques, but mostly just to visit with a friend.