Quilted Wall Art – Scrap Bin Diving Leads to Design

Let’s dig out some scraps. If you love fabric, you have them, it’s inevitable. In this quilted wallart – scrap bin diving leads to design and creative endeavor.

I was sort of unsure how to proceed with this quilted (T-shirt) wall art. I have one style, my son has another. I ended up putting together a collection of scraps I believed would work with the shirt design, and then let him have the final approval. I think he chose well. They were a motley crew of random sizes, so I decided on measuring them to fit a 14 x 20 stretched artist canvas from the hobby store. For my canvas, they measure 3 1/2 inches wide. The length will be determined largely by the side length of the canvas used. As this is a scrappy project, it’s hard to be precise. Just keep adding scraps of the same width until you have enough to cover the sides.

Trim up the scraps to the desired width. Then play around with the arrangement. It took me a few tries to get one I liked.

Then, pin the scraps together to make the bands that will frame the shirt design.

Although quilters normally press the seam allowances to one side, I opted to press the seams open so they were as flat as possible to reduce the bulk around the frame. However, it will also work if you use the traditional method.

Once you have the bands pieced together, sew the top and bottom bands to the design first, and then trim them so they are flush with the sides of the design. Next, sew the side bands to the design. (I used GUTERMANN’S rPET RECYCLED thread in this project. I like the notion of using threads made from recycled pop bottles to upcycle a t shirt into wall art.)

Press the whole quilt very well, paying special attention to the front of the design. Those seams need to be as flat as possible.

Tomorrow, we quilt the whole piece and come up with some ideas for embellishing the quilted wall art.