Selecting fabric for your quilting projects is one of the best things about being a quilter. With such a variety in colors, textures, patterns and finishes, the quilter has an enormous fabric palette to choose from.
Art quilters particularly benefit from the wide variety of fabrics available, and cotton fabric, whilst being the quilter's favorite, is no longer the only fabric of choice. Beautiful silks, velvets, sheers and decorative fabrics all vie for attention in the eyes of an art quilter.
Quality Counts
When choosing quilting fabrics, particularly cottons, quality is something that is not always considered, so it is worth mentioning that not all fabrics are created equal.Quality quilting fabrics go through a finishing process that requires many steps in order to achieve a vivid color, soft hand and ensure colorfastness. The quality of the base fabric and the number of steps it takes to complete the process all contribute to the more expensive price.
Discount quilting fabrics, on the other hand, start with a lesser quality base fabric and leave out a couple of these processing steps. This results in fabric that has a lower thread count, a stiff hand, and is prone to color run and fading.
Whilst the savings to your pocket may be significant, using less expensive fabric on a family heirloom project is not recommended.
Thread Count
Thread count also contributes to the level of quality of quilting fabric.Discount quilting fabric generally has a lesser thread count (approx 60 x 60) than quilting shop fabrics (approx 78 x78). A fabric with a smaller thread count will have a higher shrinkage rate and this is important to remember if you are mixing fabrics purchased from different sources and intend to wash the finished project. These fabrics should then be pre-washed.
Fabrics with a high thread count (100 x 100 plus), such as batiks and some PFD (prepared for dyeing) fabrics, have a fine, smooth finish, but are not recommended for hand quilting or sewing because of the tight weave. Tightly woven fabrics can also contribute to problems when machine quilting, and a machine needle with a sharp point, such as a quilting needle, is recommended.
To Pre-Wash or Not to Pre-Wash
The debate over the pre-washing of quilting fabric goes on.
As a general rule of thumb, if it is unlikely that the quilt will never be washed, such as an art quilt, pre-washing your fabric is not necessary.
However if your finished project is utilitarian and will require washing, pre-washing quilting fabric is always a good idea in order to prevent colors running and also to prevent problems with different shrinkage rates.
Difficult Fabrics
Just as there are difficult quilting threads, certain types of fabrics can also be difficult to work with. Fabrics such as sheers, velvets and silks all present challenges, as they can easily slip and slide out of position.Luckily, modern sewing and quilting machines come equipped with specialty feet to deal with these finicky fabrics and an inbuilt even feed foot, if you have this feature on your machine, is one of the best feet to use when working with specialty fabrics.
As art quilters, we are fortunate to not be restricted in our use of these wonderful fabrics. It's part of what makes art quilting so much fun
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