T-Shirt Quilt - How to Make a Quilt Sandwich (Layer A Quilt)

Learn how to make a quilt sandwich.

A quilt sandwich is made up of a quilt top, the batting and the quilt backing. Layering and basting a quilt is a job that should be done carefully.

There are several ways to baste a quilt - with quilters basting safety pins, needle and thread or washable adhesive quilting spray.

This tutorial will show you how to sandwich the quilt with safety pins.

Click to watch the T-Shirt Quilt - How to Make a Quilt Sandwich (Layer A Quilt) video in Youtube.

HOW TO SANDWICH A QUILT

STEP 1: PREPARING BACKING, BATTING AND TOP
Cut the backing and batting at least 4" larger then the quilt top. I prefer my backing and batting larger than 4". I prefer 6" to 8" larger just to make sure I have enough fabric all the way around in case the backing and batting shift.

It is good to make the backing and the batting the same size.

Press the backing and quilt top.

STEP 2: MAKING THE QUILT SANDWICH
To make the quilt sandwich I use a large table.

I find the center of the pressed backing fabric and place a safety pin on the right side of the fabric (IMPORTANT: Don't put this safety pin on the wrong side because if you forget to remove it, it will be inside your quilt). Then place the backing wrong side up on the center of the table. With you hands smooth the fabric nice and flat.

Find the center of the batting and place the center on the top of the backing centering using the safety pin as the center guide. Smooth out the batting so it is nice and flat and fits evenly over the backing fabric.

Find the center of the pressed quilt top, and position it, right-side up, on the top of the backing and batting. Smooth it nice and flat.

Use large binder clip them around the table to hold the layers flat and taunt over the table.

STEP 3: BASTING THE QUILT SANDWICH TOGETHER

Beginning pinning the sandwich together by starting with the top left corner working from the center out.

After you finish pinning that corner move on to the upper right hand corner, the lower left hand section and lower right hand section.

As you are pinning leave the pins open so you can readjust the layers as needed.

After finishing a section, remove the binder clips, move the sandwich, smooth flat, reclip and continue pinning.

After safety pinning the sections and everything is smooth and to your liking, close the safety pins.

Now that you have finish building the quilt sandwich, it is time to start the actual quilting.

T-SHIRT QUILT VIDEO SERIES:
T-Shirt Quilt - Part 1: Stabilizing and Cutting the T-Shirt Blocks
T-Shirt Quilt - Part 2: How to Adjust Image Size
T-Shirt Quilt - Part 3: Deciding How to Quilt
T-Shirt Quilt - Part 4: How to Make A Quilt Sandwich
T-Shirt Quilt – Part 5: How to Machine Quilt – Straight-Line Quilting
T-Shirt Quilt – Part 6: Binding & Labeling

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