October 19, 2015

At T-Shirt Quilts of Texas, we have printed photos on fabric for over fifteen years. Nothing new about that. However, we have found that while we can print high resolution quality photos on fabric and set the ink per product instruction, we find that the resulting product quality is not to our satisfaction over a period of time. We are creating quilts to last a lifetime, and find that the images on fabric 'might not' last as long. Not good.

While we would follow the manufacturer instructions for setting the ink, there were potential problems that we could not control. According to the instructions, you 'should' be able to include the photo in your quilt and launder it with same results as a traditionally pieced quilt. We had one gal that repeatedly printed the color pictures on her fancy laser printer at work. Problem was that it HAS to be an inkjet printer and not a laser printer. We couldn't convince her of that. The photos she printed and sent in literally faded from the squares about two weeks after the quilt was quilted and completed. Again, not good.

What we have found, is that most t-shirt quilt owners throw their quilt into the laundry using harsh soaps. Not surprisingly, that even though we followed the manufacturer instructions, we found that the images are fading much faster than expected. So, we changed how we do things. We no longer print the photos on fabric, and have decided to let the experts take care of this aspect of the process.

What did we do?

We have partnered with VistaPrint to print high quality images directly on t-shirts. While Vista-Print only offers shirts in white, gray and black, you can be assured that the resulting product will hold up like the rest of the t-shirts in your quilt. Of course, you can use any of the many online outlets that let you use your image to print on a t-shirt. Different companies will offer different color t-shirts if that is what you would like. See the header on our homepage. It was created at CustomInk so that we could get the orange t-shirt to match our logo.

Note- If you have more than one image to print, just print it on the backside of the same shirt for just a few dollars more!

We are happy to provide this service for you. We do have to charge for this service due to the time involved.. But, if you are feeling courageous, just click the VistaPrint link. You 'should' get a ten dollar credit towards your purchase. If you are already a VistaPrint customer, then go ahead and design your t-shirt online and have it shipped directly to us. Or, order it ahead of time and include it with your shirts that you send to us.

 

 

 

Shadywood Quilts/T-Shirt Quilts of Texas is a full service professional business that can help you complete your quilt at most any stage. We also 'fix' quilts made by non-professionals. If you get started, and don't feel you are going to be able to complete your quilt. Take pictures of your quilt in process, email it to us, and we can let you know if we can help you get it finished.