Silk Quilting Fabric Isn't Just For Drapes AnymoreDon't Limit Your Quilting to 100% CottonToday silk quilting fabric is taking the quilting world by storm. And why not, is is beautiful and gives such a wonderful finish to any quilt. How many of you remember the silk drapes in your mom's living room? You know, the room we were not allowed in. Today's quilts are much more user friendly. The fabric departments are full many different fabrics, how do you know where to start? I hope to take the mystery out of silk quilting fabric, wool fabric, batik fabric and just about any quilting fabric. I have a lot of resources you can read about and I've make it easy with links to all my different pages. Silk and Velvet – the Victorian era used to use silks and velvets and beautiful embroidery stitches and made gorgeous quilts. Careful to launder these correctly or you may damage them. 100% Cotton – this is the No. 1 quilter’s choice. You will probably use this fabric exclusively. It is designed with quilters in mind. The 100% cotton fabric that you buy today is mostly color fast and has minimal shrinkage. If you are ever in doubt LINK have another article on my that discusses testing your fabrics. If you bought your fabric at a store or thrift store and you are unsure of what you bought you might want to test your fabric. Save yourself from unpleasant surprises. If your fabric feels waxy, you might reconsider using it if you will be washing this item more frequently, it will not hold up as well as quality 100% cotton. Batik Fabric – made on the Island of Bali and you will not find any two yards that look alike due to the dyeing process. The fabric is a very tightly woven, 100% cotton and beautiful, but it is less forgiving of pin holes and ripping out your mistakes so use it carefully. It is made by hot wax designs stamped on the fabric, once the wax is dry the fabric is hand painted. Where the wax has been applied, it repels the color. Once the desired color is reached the fabric is boiled to remove the wax and then laid out in the sun to dry. Batik fabric can be used in any way you desire and it adds a real touch to your quilts. Flannel –very soft fabric great for baby blankets or cuddling. Flannel is a cotton that shrinks more than 100% cotton. If you are concerned about shrinkage, you might want to prewash. 
As you can see from the picture all of these are flannel prints. There are juvenile prints, adult themes, seasonal themes and just about every color imaginable. Wool Fabric –is definitely becoming more popular. You can buy wool or felted wool. If you buy wool and want to felt it, wash it in hot water and dry it in your dryer. You will have a fair amount of shrinkage so buy more than you think you need, I have heard 25% shrinkage, but test this out. One of the great things about felted wool is that you don’t need to stitch your edges, it doesn’t ravel. Wool fabric is great for hand appliqué and gives your projects a more rustic look. I was so surprised when I made a table topper with wool fabric and how good my hands felt. How About Those "Other" Fabrics?Minke–a fairly new material on the quilting scene and is great to add to your quilts. It is 100% polyester and is super soft. It doesn’t shrink and your babies love this fabric. One word of caution, when you are cutting the fabric it is a bit slippery, so make sure to secure your ruler down. When you are sewing it does create a lot of lint so make sure to keep your bobbin area cleaned out. Homespun –loosely woven fabric that has more of a homemade look. Often you will see homespun in more muted colors and it looks great with hand appliqué and rick rack. Homespun will not give you the real sharp edges of 100% cotton, it just has a more soft look and feel. Fleece – made of polyester, it is thicker than most fabric and it will shrink. A lot of people use fleece to make quilts that are tied instead of stitched. |