Well, I’ve beaten this drum time and time again. Our mothers before us and their mothers always quilted with substrates other than cotton. I’ve quilted with substrates other than cotton. It takes some creativity and experimentation. It’s part of what I love about the modern quilt movement and about modern quilting. Many modern quilts are using linens and other substrates in the quilts.
I have always loved silk. It is so luxurious. It is one of the strongest fibers known to man. Quilting with it can be tricky, as it does fray. But, there are ways of solving this issue. One of them being that you can reinforce the silk on one side. When I touch silk I feel like I just want to eat it. I want to crawl into it and just touch it intensely! Oh, it’s getting steamy. No, but really. There are so many beautiful fibers and fabrics that it doesn’t make sense to limit yourself. Sure there are going to be some things that really don’t lend themselves to quilting, but if there’s really a fiber that you want to use, most often it’s just a question of stabilizing the fabric.
How many of us make t-shirt quilts? A lot. Those are unstable knits that have been worn over and over. If we can find a way to quilt with them, we can find a way to quilt with anything.
Which brings me to the point of this post. I have a lovely young customer who saw a quilt in my shop. It is a quilt that I made as a sampler. It combines Cuddle fabric by Shannon, and flannel, and double gauze, also from Shannon. Just on a side note, another customer came in to the shop today and told me how she had purchased some “minky”. She said that it was almost impossible to use it because it was so slippery. Well, I gave her my standard “If it’s not Shannon Cuddle, then you shouldn’t be using it” speech. We carry Shannon Cuddle in the shop. It is a little bit more expensive than the competitor’s brand, but so worth the extra pennies. Why? Because it’s a superior product that is very workable. It’s forgiving, it sews beautifully and it is so much prettier in terms of color and structure. Shannon Cuddle is never too slippery to sew with. Back to the young woman in my shop. She made a quilt using multiple textures as a baby gift. She has 3 little boys and she still got this done! Bravo!! I wish she would have photographed her smiling face with it.
Isn’t it wonderful? She did such a good job. She has double gauze on the back of it. It’s terrific!
