Month: January 2025

“Allow yourself to go and do it wrong. Don’t expect to always get it right. It will prevent you from doing anything.”

–Darren Hardy, The Compound Effect. 

I realize, as you’re reading the above quote and then comparing it to the title of this blog, they may seem counterintuitive.  But not really. What I am sharing with you this week are the steps I take to make sure my quilt blocks are as perfect as possible.  However, please realize this knowledge comes from me making lots and lots of mistakes.

Lots.

Tons.

For the most part of the early years of my quilting journey, I was self-taught.  From 1986 until 2000, everything I learned about quilting I picked up from library books or casual conversation I overheard at my local Piece Goods or Hancock Fabrics. 

I had no idea there were quilt magazines.

I had never heard of Quilt Guilds.

And my local community college offered plenty of classes in crocheting, knitting, and garment construction, but none in quilting. 

I checked out every book my local library had on quilting and read them thoroughly.  This was the early eighties, so templates and scissors were used.  Fabric decisions were divided into yardage of lights, mediums, and darks.  There was no internet to Google search anything.  Honestly, I learned a lot, but a lot of what I learned was from my mistakes.  With this blog, I hope to help you avoid some of the blunders I went through as I tried to make my quilt blocks as perfect as possible.  The following are seven steps I go through with each and every pieced quilt block I make in order to get them as close as possible to perfect (I handle applique blocks a little differently). 

• Starch The Fabric Before Cutting

Whether you prewash or don’t prewash, starch your fabric.  Starch will stabilize the grains of the fabric.  This will help you cut accurately no matter if you’re cutting across the width of fabric, the length of the fabric, or (especially) if you must cut on the bias.  The bias can be really stretchy and easy to distort.  Starch keeps the fibers in place.  Starched fabric is also easier to control, and gives you better accuracy when cutting.  Seams stay pressed in the direction desired – either to the side or open.  And (bonus if you quilt your own quilts) starch makes the quilting process easier.

So how much starch should you use?  More than what is used when you iron clothes.  You want enough starch in the fabric that the fabric stops feeling like fabric and more like a piece of paper.  The starch should be pressed into the wrong side of the fabric and may take several applications.  Don’t saturate the fabric with starch and then try to press it until it’s dry.   This may distort the bias, and it leaves flakes of starch everywhere.  Spray several light applications of starch and press those into the fabric one at a time until the fabric feels like paper. 

When I mention this in a class I teach, the next complaint questions asked concern time (That takes too long!  I just want to quilt!) and doubts about how much the starch really helps.  Well, it’s kind of like this: Which kind of paper is sturdier, tissue paper or construction paper?  The obvious answer is construction paper.  Fabric is sort of like this.  Unstarched fabric – even if it hasn’t been prewashed to remove the finishes – is like tissue paper.  It can wiggle and move out of place under your rotary cutter.  A starched fabric is sturdier and stabilized.  It won’t move as you use your rotary cutter, and the bias or other cut edge won’t stretch out of shape. 

As far as starch goes, there are a variety of starches and starch substitutes on the market.  Some of them cost more than others and some work better than others.  When I use starch, or mention starch in my blogs, this is the kind I mean:

Spray starch.  There are other kinds of starches out there – other sprays, kinds you can mix yourself, and even liquid starches you can dip your fabric in.  The kind you use is a personal choice, just be sure to read the label.  Starch is made from grain, such as wheat, rice, or corn.  I’ve always heard because starch is created from a grain, they can attract silverfish and other critters, but personally, I’ve never had this happen.  This kind of starch – the “real deal” starch – holds a crease better than anything else.

One last word about starches.  Spray starch is readily found in grocery stores and drug stores.  It is also found in dollar store establishments.  Allow me to offer a word of warning: Not all spray starch is created equal.  The kind at dollar stores usually has a higher water content than the kinds at grocery and drug stores and may not work as well.

Don’t get spray starch confused with sizing.  Both come in aerosol spray cans and are usually found sitting side by side on the grocery store shelf.  Sizing is different from starch.  Sizing is plastic based, so it works great with synthetic fabrics.  However, it doesn’t give fabric the same stiffness that starch does.  Sizing is more like the finish that’s sprayed on quilting fabric before it’s put on the bolt. 

There are also starch substitutes available, such as Best Press and Flatter.  These are more like sizing than anything and they’re a bit on the pricey side.  A bottle of Best Press is currently $12.87 on Amazon and Flatter is $14.41 (also on Amazon).  A can of Niagra Spray Starch at my local grocery store is $3.59.  Best Press does have something called Best Press 2, which does leave your fabric truly feeling like a sheet of paper, but it is also expensive, clocking in currently at $12.87.

Terial Magic is another choice for making your fabric stiff.  This liquid can be found in a regular bottle or spray bottle.  With either, you saturate your fabric and let it hang to dry until the fabric is damp.  Then press it completely dry with a hot iron.  This product does leave your fabric really stiff, but the process takes longer than treating your fabric with spray starch.  However, it is messy and currently costs $15.49 for a 16 oz spray bottle.  I do think this is a handy-dandy notion to have on hand for non-quilty crafts.

While regular spray starch is my obvious preference, I do realize it can leave your pressing surface a mess.  I have found covering my ironing board or pressing surface with freezer paper is a great way to avoid those brown stains.  Cover the area with the freezer paper, use a hot, dry iron to press it in place, and you’re good to go.  When it needs changing, simply pull the freezer paper off and repeat the process.

• That ¼-Inch Seam is Pretty Important

This – keeping a consistent ¼-inch seam allowance – was one of the hardest skills for me to master.  I came from a garment construction background and the seam allowances are a bit bigger for most of those patterns.  That ¼-inch seam just looked so tiny compared to what I was used to.

However, let me add this:  The ¼-inch seam is NOT the Holy Grail of Quilting.

It’s not.  The finished size of your quilt block is as close to the Holy Grail of Quilting as you will come.

While it is true that most quilt patterns, or quilt drafting programs such as EQ8, use ¼-inch seam allowances and learning to sew a consistent one is pretty important, quite a few other elements work their way into the correct finished size of a quilt block. 

This is why it’s so important to make a test block preferably out of the same fabric you’re using for the rest of the quilt and using the same thread.  Make the block, pressing it as directed in the pattern as you go, and then measure it.  If the final product matches the finished size given in the directions, plus ½-inch for seam allowances (for instance, if the finished block should be 8-inches and your test block measures 8 ½-inches, the extra ½-inch is your seam allowance for joining the blocks together), you’re golden.  Cut out the rest of the blocks and get busy.

However…there are some factors that may contribute to the block being just slightly less than the required measurements.  Sometimes it’s the thread.  Personally, I like a two-ply, fifty-weight thread such as Aurifil.  It’s a thin, yet strong thread, that doesn’t take up a lot of room in the seam allowance.  If you’re block is coming up just a bit smaller than needed, you may want to switch up your thread.  Another factor which may shrink up your block a bit is your pressing.  Sometimes we don’t press blocks completely flat, but have a bit of a tuck, like this:

Those tucks keep the block from being completely flat and the block will be a bit smaller than needed.

Finally, we may not have a perfect ¼-inch seam indicator on our sewing machines.  If you have a machine which is specifically made for quilters, chances are your quarter-inch foot or mark on the throat plate is pretty accurate.  But you need to be sure.  You can measure over from the edge of the fabric to the to the needle tip with a measuring tape.  If that’s a quarter-inch, things are fine.  However, you may see you need to move the needle over a little to the left or right. 

There is also this tool:

The Perkins Perfect Piecing Seam Guide.  Generally found for around $7.00, the guide is placed under the presser foot.  There is a tiny hole exactly ¼-inch away from the edge of the guide.  When your sewing machine needle is positioned to cleanly go through this hole, you’ve achieved the perfect ¼-inch seam allowance.  Again, you may have to move your needle over either to the left or right to get it to insert in the hole, but you’ll have the assurance of knowing you are at the exact ¼-inch spot on your throat plate. 

There is also a test you can do yourself without the Perkins Perfect Piecing Seam Guild.  Cut three strips of fabric, one dark and two light, 2 ½-inches wide by 6 ½-inches long.  Sew them together along the long side of the strips, with the dark strip in the middle.  Press the seams towards the dark and then measure your block.  If the block measures exactly 6 ½-inches square, your ¼-inch seam allowance is dead on.

There are also quarter-inch presser feet available for most machine models.  Overall, these are really great, but it’s a good idea to do the fabric strip test mentioned above to be sure.  Sewing machines made primarily for quilters (e.g. “Quilter’s Editions”) usually have the quarter-inch foot thrown in as part of the package.  If your machine doesn’t have one, a generic one can be purchased, just be sure to know if your sewing machine is a high or low shank. 

Two last tips: First, some quilters simply opt for sewing everything at a scant ¼-inch seam allowance. This seam allowance is simply a thread or two less than a full quarter inch.  This scant quarter inch will allow for any thick thread or tucks made when pressing. 

There are scant quarter inch presser feet, too.  Second, if you’ve constructed a quilt block and it measures just shy of the required size, go back and re-press the block with the seams open.  This will free up a bit of the fabric taken up by pressing seams to one side and may make up the difference, so your block is the perfect size.

Again, let me emphasize while the ¼-inch seam is important, it’s not the Holy Grail of Quilting.  The finished size of the block is.  As you make a test block, it could become evident that you need to take a significantly smaller seam allowance or a larger one in order for the block to come out the size needed. 

• Strip Piece as Much as Possible

I wrote an entire blog on strip piecing – it’s history, how to do it, and how it’s so effective: https://sherriquiltsalot.com/2024/11/20/when-and-when-not-to-strip/.  Strip piecing saves time and fabric and is more accurate than cutting each individual piece of the block unit.  While you can’t strip piece everything, there are times you can.  It pays to know when this technique can be used and use it as often as possible.

• Pin or Glue Baste Your Seams

When I first began quilting, I came from a garment construction background.  Between setting in sleeves and collars, making buttonholes or putting in zippers, nothing was done quickly, and you secured everything with pins before you began sewing.  Some of the quilters who befriended me early in my quilt journey, didn’t use pins at all.  They simply held the fabric with their fingers and sewed – fast!  I assumed, by watching them, that pins weren’t necessarily needed in quilting.  However, as I had some struggles with the seams, I soon figured out that pins were still my friends, and I needed to use pins with my quilting.

Of course, pins are used to hold two solid pieces of fabric together, such as seams.  Some quilters pin parallel to the edge of the fabric and some pin perpendicular to it.  This is kind of a personal choice and what works best for you.  If I am pinning large pieces of fabric together (such as borders to the quilt center), I tend to pin parallel to the edges of the fabric.  I find this method holds things together better and supports the weight of the material. 

However, quilts have lots of seams and sometimes those seams must join together nicely.  There are a couple of ways I go about this.  First, if the pieces I need to sew together have nested seams, I place a pin so it intersects both seams and they stay nested.

If the seams do not nest, there is a technique you can use or a special pin to employ.  For the technique, be sure to match the seams, right sides of fabric together, and place a pin in the seam at an angle.  Don’t try to insert the pin in the fabric, just leave it standing at an angle.  Then insert two pins perpendicular to the fabric on either side of the seam.  This pinning technique tends to hold the seams in place well.

If you don’t want to use this technique, you may want to purchase fork pins:

Fork pins aren’t expensive and work well to keep fabric from shifting out of place.  Simply match your seams and pin perpendicular to the edge of the fabric, on either side of the seam.  The seams won’t shift and will match up nicely when you sew the block units together.  Fork pins also hold fabric weight well.  I have used them to sew heavy borders to a large quilt.

When sewing a pieced block or block unit to a solid piece of fabric (such as a quilt block to sashing), be sure to have the pieced block on top of the solid piece of fabric and pin it in place either parallel to the to the edge of the fabric or perpendicular, depending on which way works best for you (unless matching seams is part of this equation).  The reason you want the pieced unit on top is the presser foot is pushing the top fabric into the bottom one and it’s easier to keep things lined up. 

Pinning (and the use of a leader and ender) helps keep your fabric edges lined up when you begin sewing.  If you don’t have those pinned into place, as the feed dogs engage to move your fabric over the throat plate, they will grab the bottom layer first and then engage the top layer.  This will cause your fabric pieces to look like this:

Sidenote:  Also check your sewing machine’s manual to see if your machine has dual feed – this means it has two separate sets of feed dogs.  One set is beneath the fabric and the other is on top.  If your machine does have dual feed, this also helps to feed the fabric through evenly. 

Earlier, I mentioned pinning or glue basting.  There are certain types of quilting fabric I would much rather glue baste than pin.  The first is wovens or homespun.  Neither of these fabric types are tightly woven, so the larger holes allow the pins to slip out pretty easily.  A quick swipe of a glue stick and then a moment of drying allows the fabric to hold together.  I also glue baste quilting flannels.  The slickness of the fabric (due to a rayon/synthetic blend) means pins can slide out of place or the fabric can stretch, but glue basing keeps everything which needs to be held together, held together, until the seam is sewn.

• Learn to Appreciate Your Seam Ripper

We all make mistakes.  Sometimes the only person who is bothered by a mistake is us. Other times, the error may throw off quilt construction, and then a seam ripper will come into play.  It can undo any sewing mistakes, and you can begin again.  No one will know but you. Don’t be afraid to use the ripper.

Remember, the blade on a seam ripper does dull overtime.  Be sure to replace your seam ripper as needed.

• Square Up as You Go

Sometimes a quilt pattern will give you each block unit’s measurements as you make them. For instance, a pattern may tell you to make 18 four-patch blocks, and they should measure 4 ½-inches.  This is great information to have.  You construct your four-patch blocks, and then you can take them to your cutting mat and measure them, trimming if necessary to get the exact, needed measurement. 

Other patterns may not include each block unit’s measurements.  This is another reason test blocks are important.  You can measure each unit as you construct it and make notes on the pattern’s directions.  Typically I tend to make the first unit or two, and measure see how close I am to the needed measurements.  Then I can trim it down to size.  If something has gone terribly wrong, I’ve only messed up a couple of units, instead of 20 or 30.  As long as the initial units are good, I can construct a dozen or more and then trim. 

Squaring up like this – each block unit, then each row in the block, then the block itself– really gets your quilt block as close to perfection as you can.  There are too many factors in play if you wait until the very end of the construction process.

• Press Carefully

Before we go any further with this point, let me remind you that pressing is an up and down motion, not a back and forth one.  As you press your quilt block or unit, you literally lift the iron up and down so the block and its seams aren’t stretched out of shape.

As you press, be sure to press to the dark side, so there will be no shadowing and the seams will nest.  If your quilt pattern gives pressing directions, be sure to follow them.  Press the block flat, so there are no tucks.  And if your block is just a bit too small, try pressing the seams open.  This pressing technique can free up as much as 1/8^th of an inch of fabric per seam.

Finally, there is that age-old argument of steam or no steam as you press.  Personally, I like steam, but I would rather lightly spray my block with water and then iron it than keep water in my iron.  I think misting and then pressing works better – at least for me.  Again, this is a person decision.  The main objective is to press the block flat

It’s so wonderful to be a quilter now.  There are so many references and sources to search if you have a question or want to learn a new technique – unlike when I was struggling to learn in the early eighties.  What hasn’t changed too much are the basics – from starch to pinning to pressing.  To make a quilt block as perfect as possible, it’s the attention to the basics that makes the difference.

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

Since this year’s theme is embracing tradition and technology, the blogs will vary from time to time from very traditional quilting topics to the latest and greatest new tools in the field.  This week, we’re taking a closer look at the backbone of all quilts – the fabric. 

Fabric – or rather choosing fabric – is one of the most fun parts about quilting.  There’s such a wide range of colors and prints.  There’s truly something for every quilter in every color way imaginable.  And today’s quilter tends to lean towards 100 percent cotton fabrics or perhaps flannels.  There are good reasons for these choices, but you have to ask if it has always been this way.  Have quilters always reached for the cotton fabrics over anything else?

Well, no.  There have been times when they couldn’t access cotton fabrics because there were none available.  Remember the Seventies?  Polyesters were in abundance.  Cottons weren’t.  So quilters made quilts out of polyester.  For quilters, it’s been this way throughout our history.  While we are fortunate enough to have quilting cottons and flannels, our quilting foremothers sometimes had to use whatever was available to make bedcoverings for their families.  When we look back at antique quilts, we find them constructed from linen, wools, canvas, silks, ticking, and any other fabric available.  Today, we can still find these fabrics and if we wanted to, we could use them in a quilt.  The question we need to ask is how well these fabrics would hold up and how easy would they be to use in quilt construction?

Historically, most quilts have been comprised of cottons, batiks, wovens (homespun), flannels, linen, minky, rayon, canvas, and muslin.  Visit any large fabric store and most (if not all) of these are still available.  Let’s take a brief look at each of these and what are the pros and cons about them if we decide to use them in a quilt.

Quilting Cottons/Cotton Fabric

Generally speaking, quilters tend to lump all cotton fabrics into the category “Cotton.” Technically, we can get away with this.  However, for quilters there are subtle differences. Cotton fabrics are made from 100% cotton fibers; however, the thread count on these cotton fabrics can vary from a nice 60 threads per square inch to a low 40 (or less) threads per square inch.  The lower the thread count, the thinner the fabric.  The thinner the fabric, the more difficult it is to piece and it can be a  nightmare to quilt. 

We can thank the wonderful Marti Michell for quilting cottons.  Marti began her quilting journey during the time when it was impossible to find any cotton fabrics in the store.  She worked with polyesters and cotton/poly blends until she talked a couple of fabric manufacturers into producing a line of cotton fabrics specifically for quilters.  This was about the time the Bicentennial sparked a quilting revival, and Marti assured the manufacturers that there would be a market for these fabrics.  The difference between cotton fabrics and quilting cottons is the quilting cottons have a higher thread count than 60 threads per square inch and, as a result, are thicker.  They tend to needle better, are less linty, and don’t fray as much. 

On the flip side, they are usually a bit more expensive than regular cotton fabrics.

Overall, whether you pick cottons or quilting cottons, both are stable fabrics, have a good weave, are available in almost any print or color imaginable, and are sold by the yard and in a huge variety of pre-cuts.  When I teach beginner or intermediate quilting classes, cotton fabrics are on the supply lists.  They are easy to handle, easy to needle, and easy to take care of.

Batiks

Batiks add an organic edge to quilts.  Typically, even if a batik is a solid color, the shades and tints will undulate throughout the fabric.  For instance, if you purchase a red batik, chances are you will see dark, medium, and light reds – maybe even borderline pinks – in a yard of red batik.  Most batiks have some kind of pattern in them, varying from leaves to flowers to just about anything else you can think of. 

Batik fabric is created by using a wax resistant dyeing process.  A pattern is drawn on the fabric with wax and  the fabric is dyed.  Then that wax may be scraped off, more wax in a different design added, and the dyeing process is repeated.  This can occur several times, which means the batik fabric is frequently introduced into a wet environment.  Each time causes the threads to shrink just a bit, making batik fabric a tightly woven material, with a stiffer hand than cottons.  So, batiks won’t shrink a great deal when they’re washed because they have already been wet and dried several times.  However, because they have been put through the dyeing process more than once, they are prone to bleed onto other fabrics when washed – especially the darker batiks. 

The tighter weave of batiks makes them wonderful choices for raw edge applique and paper piecing.

Wovens/Homespuns

Technically these are two entirely different fabric entities, however since we can treat them so similarly, I tend to lump them both into one category.  Wovens are yarn-dyed fabrics – meaning the threads are dyed and these are woven into a fabric.  The material is pretty identical both on the right and wrong sides. This is different from both batiks and cotton fabrics, which have their designs printed on them. Wovens/Homespuns have a looser weave than regular cotton fabrics, which means they do fray.  However, don’t let the fray factor discourage you from using them. There are a few steps you can take to stabilize the fabrics.

1.  Starch the fabric well.  Using regular spray starch (this type of starch works best for this application rather than a starch substitute), lightly spray one side of the wovens/homespuns and press the starch in with a hot iron.  Continue this process until the fabric feels like a sheet of paper.  Then cut and sew as normal.
2. Stabilize the pieces of fabric with a light interfacing such as Pellon SK135 White Knit Fusible Interfacing.  This adds very little weight to the fabric (and it’s easy to machine quilt through), but it will stabilize the loose threads and help the quilt block maintain its shape and not fray.
3. While I am a huge proponent of pinning, pins generally don’t work too well with wovens/homespuns because the weave is so loose the pins fall out.  I have found using a glue stick to hold fabric seams together while you sew works wonderfully.

Flannels

Like wovens/homespuns, there are two types of flannel.  First there is the cotton flannel.

This flannel is used for pajamas, baby blankets, quilt backs, clothing, and sometimes as batting for summer quilts when regular batting would be too hot.  The weave on these flannels is loose and if you do choose to make pajamas or any type of clothing for young children out of cotton flannel, be sure to look at the end of the bolt and read the label to make sure it’s fireproofed. 

The second type of flannel is what I call “Quilting Flannels.”  These are a bit thicker than regular cotton flannels because there is some spandex and/or rayon thrown in the manufacturing process.  This means that quilting flannels have a bit more stretch than cotton flannels but don’t fray as much.  They are also thicker than cotton flannels and the surface is slicker – so slick that pins have a difficult time keeping everything lined up as you sew your pieces together.  It’s a good idea to use a glue stick instead of pins with this fabric.  Quilting flannels come in a wide variety of colors and prints and work wonderfully in quilt tops or as a background for wool applique.  They also hold up well for raw-edge applique because they don’t fray like 100% cotton flannels. Unlike the cotton flannel, quilting flannel is often sold in precuts.

One word of caution about cotton flannels and quilting flannels – they both tend to shrink a bit more than cotton fabric, especially the 100% cotton flannel.  In some circumstances, you can lose as much as ¼-yard of flannel fabric to shrinkage.  So depending on how you use your quilt, it may be a good idea to prewash flannel. If it’s in a wall hanging, pre-washing may not matter.  However, if it’s in a play quilt or bed quilt which may be washed fairly frequently, pre-washing the flannel to get the shrinking out before sewing it into a quilt top is a good idea. 

Linen

Linen fabric is hundreds of years old.  A product of the flax plant, linen fabric is used because it breathes, has great drapability, and is durable.  Often it’s blended with cotton to create a fabric with a bit of texture.  Because it is so much like cotton fabric, it can be treated the same way as cotton fabric is and used the same way, too.

Minky

I have a love/hate relationship with this fabric.  Minky or Cuddle is ultrasoft and warm.  It’s used in toys, blankets, robes, scarves and as quilt backing.  Honestly, there isn’t anything more snuggly for a winter-time baby than a baby quilt backed with Minky or Cuddle.  Some of the Minky has raised dots to give it a bit of texture. 

The issue with Minky – and it’s really not a huge issue, it’s just somethings you have to keep in mind if you decide to use it as a quilt back – is that it’s a polyester fabric.  It stretches, in addition to being super soft and super slick.  If you’re quilting on a domestic machine, make sure you baste your quilt well, so the Minky or Cuddle doesn’t slide out of place.  If you are long arming your quilt, you may want to load your quilt sideways, so the selvedges are to the right and left of your long arm instead of at the top and bottom of the rollers.  This allows you to quilt along the length of grain which is not as stretchy as the width of grain.  Do not put so much tension on the quilt you could bounce a quarter off the top – allow it to have a little “give” when you quilt Minky.  With both a long arm and a domestic machine, you may need to use a different needle.  A ball point needle may be needed if you find a standard 90/14 (for domestic machines) isn’t working.  For most long arms, a size 16 is standard and sometimes this works fine.  If it doesn’t you may need to move to a size 18 or 20.  I have also found cotton thread tends to give me fewer problems with Minky than a polyester thread.  Cotton thread kind “grips” the Minky, whereas a polyester or polyester blend may be too slick.

Finally, I have found when I do use Minky or Cuddle as a quilt back, I avoid the kind with the raised “dots.”  Those are just another issue I have chosen not to deal with.’

Rayon

Rayon is a lightweight, soft, slick fabric that we tend to classify for use in garment making.  Rayon is not considered as durable as other fabrics, but is a great alternative to silk because rayon will not fade as quickly, it’s less expensive, and it’s easy to maintain.  Typically rayon is made from wood pulp, cotton, or bamboo. I have seen rayon used as quilt backing for light weight quilts, and I have used it in applique.  Because rayon shrinks at different rates than cotton or flannels, some prewashing would be wise.

While typically rayon isn’t a fabric most quilters would think about using, I have seen it used quite effectively in church banners.

Canvas

Canvas is by far the thickest fabric on this list, and it’s normally not used in quilts, it is used in lots of quilted items, such as bags, jackets, oven mitts and other kitchen accessories, and some upholstery.  Because it is a heavier weight fabric, remember to use a topstitch or jeans needle and a thicker thread than your normal piecing thread weight – something around a 40 or even 30 weight. 

Muslin/Quilting Muslin

Muslin is a plain-weave, lightweight, 100% cotton fabric.  There is unbleached muslin, which is beige/ecru in color and then there is bleached muslin, which is white.  For years, most quilters who did not want to piece their backs, would pick muslin as their quilt back, because it came in extra-wide widths.  Like cottons and quilting cottons, muslin comes as generic muslin and quilting (quilt-quality) muslin.  General muslin has a bit of a looser weave than quilt-quality muslin. 

As quilter with a long arm, I’ve found it handy to have a few yards of either muslin in my studio.  If I need to practice or try something new, I load up a yard or two of muslin and stitch away. 

If you need several yards of white or beige for a quilt top, a quilting-quality muslin works well.  When I was gathering fabric for my Grandmother’s Flower Garden, I needed a lot of white material for the hexies which separated the flowers.  I purchased quilting quality muslin for that and it has worked great.

Digitally Printed Fabric

This is the latest fabric to be added to the quilting world.  Digitally Printed fabric is fabric which has been printed by an ink printer instead of by standard printing repeats.  This means a digitally printed fabric can have nearly any size of design, with limited repeats (or none at all).  Digitally Printed Fabric also has nearly any color option. 

The colors do tend to bleed a little – especially the dark inks.  A thinner needle is needed and a slicker thread – cotton thread tends to “grab” the fabric and leave “runs” (white lines where the underlying fabric is exposed).  When quilting it on a long arm, don’t keep the roller tension too tight. 

Digitally Printed Fabric is beautiful, but be aware it generally requires more care than standard cotton fabrics or batiks. 

To Prewash or Not to Prewash, that is the Question

I will start this section out by stating I am a prewasher.  Partly because that was a component of my beginning quilting curriculum.  My teacher prewashed, she told us to do it, and like a good, little student, I did and still do.  However, there are some valid reasons (other than the teacher told me to) for you to seriously consider prewashing your fabric. 

•  The fabric may be dirty. 

Sure it looks all nice and clean as it sits on the shelf at your local quilt store (which itself may be spotless), but where was it before it arrived at the LQS?  How long was it in the warehouse?  Was it shrink wrapped from the moment of manufacture?  Or if you’re purchasing online, do you know anything about how the fabric is stored?

• You may want a soft fabric to work with. 

All fabric has finishes sprayed on them.  These help the fabric maintain its shape as it is wrapped on a cardboard bolt and kept on a shelf.  They give the fabric a “crisp” hand.  However, if you plan on hand piecing or/and hand quilting, you may not want your fabric to feel crisp, as it could be difficult to push a needle through. 

Batiks are known to be pretty stiff, due to all of their exposure to the wet dyeing process.  If you need these to be a little softer, try prewashing them in hot water.  It won’t shrink the fabric much, if any at all, but it does remove a lot of the dyes and their components which make them feel so stiff.

•  You may want a smooth quilt.

All fabric shrinks at different rates, even those from the same fabric manufacturer, under the same label and family.  So if you’re making a quilt and you have fabric from different families and manufacturers, and different fabric types (such as cottons, batiks, and wovens all in the same quilt), you can imagine the shrinkage difference which may occur in the quilt once you wash it.  If you want your quilt top to have a smooth appearance instead of a puckered one, prewash all your fabrics.  This will remove the shrinkage factor so your quilt won’t pucker.

•  Prewashing will get rid of most allergy irritants.

This is the primary reason I prewash.  All those chemicals sprayed onto fabrics to make them look pretty and keep their shape can flake off and make you sneeze.  And if the fabric has been stored for a while, there also may be dust and dirt on its surface. And who wants to sneeze all over their pretty, new fabrics?

•  Prewashing can indicate if the fabric will bleed.

Notice I said “indicate” not necessarily “prevent.”  If the bleeding is light, a couple of prewash cycles will probably button up the problem nicely.  However, if the fabric is hand dyed, a dark batik, or simply a dark fabric, prewashing may not completely take care of the issue.  You may need to use Retaine or Synthrapol to completely take care of the problem.

There are also compelling reasons not to prewash, too.

•  Non-prewashed fabric is crisper.

It has a crisp hand and it’s easier to cut out, it sews easier, and presses nicer.

•  You want an antique look for your quilt.

If you love the puckered look of antique quilts, don’t prewash your fabrics and use a cotton batt.  Once the quilt is complete, throw it in the washer on a gentle cycle and then let it air dry or toss it in the dryer.  You’ll get that sweet look of an antique quilt.

•  Maybe your quilt will be one of those which is never washed.

If you’re making a wall hanging, small or miniature quilt, or an heirloom quilt which may never see the inside of a washing machine, it’s fine not to prewash.

•  Time.

Prewashing is an additional step in the quilting process.  Most quilt patterns will not include this step.  They begin their directions with how to cut out the fabric pieces.  Prewashing is a pre-construction step you opt to take on.  And unless you’re willing to give it the time, you may really not want to go through the prewashing process.  Quilters argue that with the invention of Color Catchers, prewashing is an outdated step, but that’s not necessarily true.  If the fabric additives irritate your nose, you want a smooth quilt, or you want a soft fabric to work with, Color Catchers are of no use.

Finally, there are a couple of things I’d like to throw in on a personal level before we end this blog.  First, if I am making a quilt for a child or infant, I prewash my fabric and then wash the completed quilt, too, just to be safe.  Second, it’s less confusing if I have a system.  I’d safely say 98 percent of my stash is prewashed.  When it comes in house or arrives in the mail, it’s tossed in the washer and then air dried.  After it’s ironed, I clip a corner off to indicate it’s been prewashed.  If for whatever reason I haven’t prewashed it, I will realize it once I can’t find the clipped corner.  Third, there are no quilt police.  To prewash or not to prewash is your decision, no one else’s.

In case you’re curious, there are two situations where I absolutely do not prewash.  The first situation concerns precuts.  I do not prewash my precuts because most of the patterns used with them assume you don’t prewash and there is no fabric shrinkage. If I prewashed the precuts, they could shrink and may not work with the pattern.  Second, I do not prewash the background fabrics I use for hand applique.  The reason is this:  When the applique quilt is complete and I wash it, then the background fabric will shrink a bit.  This shrinkage gently pulls my hand stitches beneath the applique fabric and makes the applique pieces look as if they are really floating on top of the background fabric.  Of course, your hand stitches should be small enough for this.  And I don’t recommend this if you use silk thread.  Silk thread becomes weaker when wet and the washing process may cause your stitches to pop. 

Definitions

Retayne — It is a color fixative intended specifically for commercially dyed fabric.  This can be purchased at most quilt shops and big box stores.  Follow the manufacturer’s directions completely.  The material must be agitated in hot, hot water (read 140 degrees) for 20 minutes, rinsed in cool and dried immediately.  Since the water must be so hot, use not only the “Hot” cycle on your washing machine, but also cut the cold water off in the back of the machine – just in case.  Treat the fabric before putting it in the quilt.  After treating with Retayne, use only cool water on the finished project.

Synthrapol — Synthrapol is a surfactant that is usually used in the hand dyeing process.  Chemically, it’s a cool product.  It keeps the unattached dye molecules suspended in the wash water instead of allowing them to settle back onto the fabric.  You may use a surfactant every day and not realize it.  If you wash dishes with the blue Dawn dish detergent, you know the power that a surfactant has.  It’s the surfactant that doesn’t allow the grease molecules to settle back onto your hands or your dishes.  And the surfactant is only found in the blue Dawn.

Could you use blue Dawn for small pieces of fabric as a surfactant?  Yes.  But if you’re stabilizing yardage, you will probably want to stick with Synthrapol.  And keep in mind that neither Synthrapol nor Retayne are 100 percent effective 100 percent of the time.

Fabric Families — When most quilters think about fabric families, their minds drift towards precuts, which are certainly made from fabric families.  However, as you’re building your stash or considering fabric for a quilt top, you may want to seriously consider fabric families, which may be better defined as fabric lines – a group of fabrics which use the same dye lots and have different sized prints, solids, focus fabric, and blenders.  The best illustration for this is a line of fabric called Kansas Troubles by Moda. 

This particular line has been in circulation for several years, and frankly, it’s one of my favorites.  But the reason I like this line goes far beyond the harvest oranges, dark reds, and indigo blues.  Each time Moda adds to this line, they use the same dyes in the new fabrics, which means the Kansas Trouble fabric you purchased six years ago will go well with the newest additions to the line.  Fabric families/lines such as this (and there are a few), are smart purchases for your stash.  You won’t be left with that odd fabric out you can’t really match up to anything. 

There are hundreds of fabric families, but not all of them continue production using the same dye lots in a line for years and years.  A bit of research can pay off value-wise as you’re building your fabric inventory.  Michael Miller and Robert Kaufman also have several fabric lines which repeat dye lots.

I know this is a great deal of information for one blog, but I couldn’t find a good place to split it in half, so you got the entire kit and caboodle this week.  Fabric/choosing fabric is one of the most fun parts of quilting!  Have a great time with the process and fall in love with the fabric you’re using for your quilt.

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

Let’s pretend for just a few minutes.  Let’s pretend someone you’ve always wanted to meet is coming to your house for dinner.  You have a week to plan.  How do you know what to do first?  If you’re like me, you begin to make a list of things you have to do and then you begin to number those things in order of importance or how long a task may take.  Sanity is found by following that list and when the day finally comes and that person arrives for dinner, you know everything is spic-and-span and the meal is delicious.

Now let’s transfer that same line of thinking over to your quilt studio.  While the end result may not be dinner with your favorite, famous person, the outcome is still sanity:  You know what projects have a high priority listing and which ones can wait.  Knowing which projects are the most important (if to no one but you) and which ones aren’t, allows you to know what to focus on when you are in your studio.  I have a four-point priority system in my studio and one hard, fast, self-imposed rule:  There can only be one quilt per priority level.

• Critical/Urgent – These are the “fire alarm quilts,” and generally the quilt which falls into this category either has a “hard” deadline or is so close to completion I can taste it.  However, a quilt can also occupy this priority level if I need to learn or brush up on a skill set, I need to make some design decisions, or it employs a particular time-consuming technique (or one I don’t particularly enjoy – I’d rather get that out of the way first).
• High Priority – These are important quilts, but generally they don’t have a “hard” deadline (unless it’s a quilt show/gift quilt a year or two in the future).  The finish line may be in sight, but there’s still several steps to complete. 
• Medium Priority – These are the quilts I work on as “escapism.”  After several sessions with a critical/urgent quilt or a high priority quilt, I turn to these for a change of pace – especially if they require “mindless” sewing, such as strip units, half-square triangles, etc. 
• Low Priority – These are the quilts in project boxes.  They are quilt kits or quilts I may have cut out and are ready to start the next time a priority option opens up.  If I get tired of the other three priority options, I will open the low priority box just to give myself a little emotional “boost” about the goodies which are in my quilting future.  Often that’s enough to spur me to completion. 

Each of these priority level quilts can be broken down into steps, and if a couple of these quilts need the same action, I may work on both at the same time.  For instance, if I have two quilts I need to stabilize blocks on before doing machine applique, I generally will opt to cut out all my stabilizer and press it onto the wrong side of all the blocks instead of breaking it down into two separate actions for two different quilts.  This actually saves time in the long run. 

Once I have four projects prioritized, I try to remove any other “someday” projects from my line of vision.  This includes kits, designated fabric for a project, patterns, etc.  This is an important step for me.  For as focused as I can be about most things in my life, sometimes it’s easy for me to get sidetracked, especially if I run into a snag on the quilt under my needle. It’s easy to turn away from my problem and instead focus on something “shiny and new” and in the future. 

I also tend to have designated sewing times.  This was not so easy to do when I had kids living at home full time.  At that point, I tended to keep some portable hand sewing in the car to work on while I waited for Meg to get through with dance lessons or Matt to finish up music.  But now, with the kids grown and gone, and my non-working time my own, I can usually count on a couple of hours in my studio each night.  I always work on my Critical project on Monday’s.  I’m rested from the weekend and my mind is fresh, so I have the most mental energy for those projects.  The other three quilts get phased in and out Tuesday through Thursday.  On Fridays and weekends, depending on what’s going on in the Fields household, I may have some additional time to throw at my Critical project.  However, I love to find a good movie or TV series to binge on and work on my hand applique over the weekend.    

This is what works for me.  It may also work for you, or you may find you need an entirely different system – which is totally fine with me.  The most important thing is to know yourself as a quilter.  Know how many projects you feel comfortable working on at one time.  Know when you can spend time working on those projects and which ones are the most important.  Each step taken is progress, and all progress leads to finished projects – which is so important.  There’s something about taking the last few stitches in the binding that’s deliriously joyful.  You picked a project, worked on it, completed it, and now you can enjoy it and start something new. 

It’s equally important for you to realize if you’re not a multiple project quilter, and that’s also completely fine.  If you feel you’re at your best handling one quilt project at a time, that’s great.  Know what works best for you and everyone needs to remember there are no quilt police and very, very few hard, fast quilting rules. 

Some final thoughts about prioritizing projects.  I have also found it’s important to be semi-organized with your projects and sewing space.  Now let me assure you, most of the time my studio has the “There seems to have been a struggle” appearance.” My studio will not make the Top 10 List of Most Organized Quilting Spaces – ever.  My projects are out.  There are items on my ironing board.  However, I’ve always been a huge fan of project boxes.  Every project has it’s box and it that box are all necessary notions, specialty threads, fusible web, and the pattern – everything I need to make that quilt except for general quilting tools such as seam rippers, marking tools, pins, etc.  My general quilting tools are in caddies by my sewing machine.  This way, I don’t have to go digging through drawers and boxes to get to any special notions.  They’re in the project box. 

It’s important to think seasonal, too – primarily if you quilt by checkbook.  If you have Christmas or Halloween quilts you want to display, have a conversation with your long arm artist.  Ask him or her what their deadlines are for holidays – especially if you want custom quilting.  You may find you need to get a Christmas quilt to them four to six months in advance depending on the size of the quilt and the level of customization.  The same goes if you’re making quilts “hard” deadlines such as anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, or quilt shows.  This information may move such a quilt to the Critical or High Priority category. 

Don’t be afraid to give all of your projects a critical once-over.  Just because a project appealed to you a year ago (or longer), that doesn’t mean it may still hold your attention.  If you find it doesn’t, there are a few things you can do.  The easiest step to take is to give the project away.  Find it a new home.  If you belong to a guild, put it on the free table.  Find a Goodwill, Salvation Army, or some other similar organization which will take it.  There is no shame in this game and your discarded project may be just the very thing another quilter needs.  You can also divvy it out for the fabric.  Suddenly the pattern may not appeal to you, but you still like the fabric.  Give the pattern away and keep the material.  Finally, if the project still appeals to you, but you really don’t want to justify all the time involved, see if there is a way to make the project smaller.  If it’s an applique quilt, only make the blocks you like.  If it’s a pieced quilt, make fewer blocks.  The point is, make the project work for you, not you for the project.

Last, if possible, separate your stash from your projects.  I would love to be able to do this, but I can’t.  I would love to have a room for my stash separate from my quilt studio.   I am of the “quilting generation” which was encouraged to have a stash (it’s my understanding a lot of our new quilters don’t keep a stash – at least one as large as we were encouraged to have).  Most of that stash is out in the open on shelves.  I would really like to be able to get that out of my line of vision, as it turns on the “clutter” signal in my brain.  It may be helpful, if you can, to keep your stash out of the line of vision if possible.  This will help keep you attention on your projects, not the possible quilts you see in your stash. 

I hope the last two blogs have help you learn how to prioritize your projects as well as identify which kind of quilter you are – a multi-project one or a one-at-a-time quilter.  Learning how to manage your quilts, your time, and your personality is important for both quilting progress as well as your quilting sanity!

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

This week’s blog is moving into a really gray area:  How many ongoing quilt projects are too many or is it better to finish one quilt project at time before moving onto to a new one?  I realize there are quilters who squarely fall in one or the other camps.  However, as someone who has quilted almost forty years now, most of the quilters I associate with have numerous projects underway at the same time.  Whether this is just “the way quilters are” or whether it’s just the crowd I run with, may be difficult to define. 

Honestly, I have never given this thought too much of my brain-space.  I have numerous projects currently and consecutively under my needle, but I always have.  While the number used to be two (one for machine work and one for handwork), the number grew just a bit as my life changed – the kids grew up and I had more time for me.  I assumed this was just the way things were, and I am just fine with it.  Until a few weeks ago at my regular weekly Sit and Sew when someone mentioned that she had read that having numerous projects underway at the same time is actually bad for you. 

Mentally, this made me back up just a bit and go, “Huh?”  And since the person who made this comment wouldn’t have made it if indeed she hadn’t read it, I felt I needed to research this area to see where the truth was – did it apply only to certain circumstances or certain types of quilters or was it kind of a universal truth which had just come to light? 

My first point of reference was the 2024 Quilters Survey from the Craft Industry Alliance.  Every year this CIA (not the other CIA) distributes a survey to hundreds of quilters of all levels – professionals to the hobbyist.   Information is gathered, gleaned, and posited out for industries affiliated with the quilt market, as well as for quilters themselves.  The 2024 Quilters Survey shows that the average quilter starts eleven projects a year, completes nine of them and they work on these projects an average of six hours a week.  Granted, the size of these projects can vary – most of them are small to medium sized, with a large quilt or two thrown in.  However, this still indicates most quilters are probably working on more than one project at a time and successfully completing 75 percent of them. 

So it seems quilters are quite adept at handling more than one project concurrently.  However, the question which remains is this: Does it cause any issues?  Well, sure.  It’s possible.  Any action taken has the ability to cause an equal and opposite reaction.  Below are a few probable issues which could crop up when dealing with multiple quilt projects.

• Having too many projects underway at the same time could make you feel overwhelmed.
• Too many large projects can also make you feel overwhelmed and perhaps even bored.
• If a number of these projects require a great deal of attention, you may feel drained.
• If you haven’t accurately determined the amount of time needed for each project each week, you may feel frustrated or anxious.

After scouring the internet and other quilt resources for a few days, I didn’t discover a source designed specifically for quilters which would help us decide how many projects are just enough, how many are too many, and how few are not enough.  But what I did discover was this:  a project, is a project, is a project – no matter if it’s part of a corporate restructuring, a project contributor, a project organizer, or a quilter.  A project – any project – is anything which can be broken down into steps to be accomplished.  So with that in mind, let’s take a broad look at what it means to have multiple ongoing projects and to have only one project in process. 

The one word which kept cropping up with the above bullet list of issues dealing with multiple quilt projects is overwhelmed.   It can be easy to become overwhelmed with nearly anything in life – more than likely most of us are well-acquainted with the feeling.  Call it overload, overwhelmed, or over-committed, there are some tipping points which make us feel that way.

• Resource constraint: When you don’t have enough time or materials needed to complete a project
• Complexity of tasks:  Projects involving intricate tasks or requiring specialized skills.  In our case, it may be a quilt, and while it is absolutely lovely, it may need a skill set we’re not proficient with yet. 
• Tight deadlines:  In my mind, quilt deadlines can be “soft” or “hard.”  Almost every project I start has a deadline – I want to be finished with it by a certain date.  This is a “soft” deadline.  It really exists only in my head, and I can alter that deadline with no major consequences other than the fact I may be irritated at myself for missing it.  A “hard” deadline would be a gift date – such as a birthday or wedding – or the date the quilt needs to be finished so I can enter it in a show.  These deadlines are not in my head and are pretty non-negotiable.  A tight, “hard” deadline can definitely make you feel like you’re overwhelmed.
• Lack of prioritization:  I may appear as a fairly laid-back person (and in many ways I am), but there’s a lot more type A personality in me than you may realize.  Everything – I mean everything – I do in my life generally has a priority sticker on it.  Without it, I feel as if I’m walking in total chaos.  For this reason, I’ve been a stickler of a list maker since I was in middle school.  If I don’t put some kind of priority on at least three of my quilt projects I get kind of lost in my studio.  It all is so much fun and so pretty, but what do I really need to settle down and concentrate on first? 

For some quilters, this would seem to suck the joy out of quilting.  And you may be one of those folks and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the way you feel (remember: there are no quilt police).  However, I feel if I’m working on what’s important or what’s almost finished first, it helps me feel less overwhelmed when I look at the next five projects I have lined up.

• Constant Interruptions:  Interruptions can disrupt workflow, no matter if you’re working on a corporate budget, cleaning the house, or making a quilt.  And these interruptions impede the progress of existing projects. With most of us, I am assuming we’re not “professional” quilters – we don’t make a living from producing our wonderful works of art – we are hobbyists.  So, generally our quilting takes place during the time we carve out for it.  Since that time may be limited, any interruptions can reduce the time we have to put in some stitches and that, my quilting friends, not only can make us feel overwhelmed, but also frustrated.   

Right now, let’s all enter into Sherri’s Zone of Truth.

Stop reading this blog.  Right now.  Just for a few minutes.  Stop reading and go to your quilting space and take a long, hard, non-judgmental look around.  Ask yourself how many projects you currently have in process and how many do you have tucked away in project bags/boxes you plan on completing?  Now let’s both of us honestly answer the following questions:

Does looking at all of these make me feel overwhelmed?

Can I prioritize these projects?

Can I finish these on my “soft” deadline? (don’t consider any projects with a “hard” deadline).

Am I having difficulty focusing or concentrating on one project at a time because I have so many?

Does looking at all your projects increase your stress levels?

If the answer is “Yes” to three of these questions, you may need to reconsider what the “comfortable” number of quilting projects is you need. 

How Many Quilting Projects Should You Handle at Once?

This is one of those quilting preferences which is entirely up to you.  In a corporate setting, most project managers dislike their employees to handle more than three or four significant projects concurrently.  But that’s a professional setting and a lot depends on corporate structure.  Quilting is your hobby and hopefully your stress-relief.  You may feel quite comfortable handling between five to seven or more projects at the same time.  Psychologically, working on multiple projects simultaneously can increase productivity and foster creativity.  But there are those who also argue that focusing on one project at a time leads to better quality work and less stress. 

So who is right?  What is better?  Let’s explore both sides of the argument.

Advantages of Working on Multiple Quilt Projects at Once

• Switching between quilt projects can keep your mind fresh and prevent the boredom which can come from focusing only on one project.
• Working on a different project can broaden and develop your skill set and expose you to different challenges.
• You can make progress on multiple projects simultaneously, potentially speeding up overall project completion.
• If one quilt project is stalled, you can shift your focus to another project and keep on making progress.

Disadvantages of Working on Multiple Quilt Projects at Once

• Constantly switching between projects can lead to decreased concentration and productivity on each.
• Handling several quilt projects at once can be mentally taxing and may lead to feeling overwhelmed and stressed if not managed properly.
• Splitting your attention across multiple tasks may result in lower quality work compared to focusing on one project at a time.
• Sometimes – especially if there are multiple “soft” deadlines in your head – it can be more challenging to determine which quilt project deserves more priority and attention at any given time, leading to delays.

Ultimately, whether it’s “bad” to have several in-progress quilt projects at one time depends on you – your ability to manage them, prioritize them, and still balance productivity and quality.  And let’s be honest.  Some quilters are better at this than others.  There is no shame in either game.  All quilters are people and all people are different.  I have quilting friends who can easily manage five or six projects at once.  I know award-winning quilters – those who really live for the ribbons – who wouldn’t think about working on more than two projects at once, if that many.  And when I look at myself, I see a quilter who at one time could handle four to seven projects at the same time, but as I’ve aged, I’m much happier with three.  Just out of curosity, I asked my daughter, Meagan — who has a MSML in Organizational Psychology and is VP of Operations for NFI — how many projects does she give the employees on her team and still expect them to keep up with the rest of their work load?

“No more than 30% to 35% of their time should be dedicated to projects,” was her answer.

Go figure.  With quilting, as with a lot of things in life, it pays to know yourself well.  We have 24 hours in a day. Eight of these (generally) are for sleeping. If you are employed, deduct those hours, too. The remaining time is yours. And perhaps only 35% of that should be invested in quilting. The following chart may help you decide if you’re a multiple project quilter or a solo project one.

Working on Multiple Quilt Projects Simultaneously Can:

Offer more variety and stimulation

Promote higher efficiency and skill development                  

Have better resource allocation

Risks of Working on Multiple Quilt Projects Simultaneously Are:

Fragmented focus

Increased stress

Quality compromise

Difficulty in prioritization

Working on One Quilt Project at a Time Can:

Increase focused attention

Keep clear priorities

Reduce stress

Better adherence to both “soft” and “hard” deadlines

Risks of Working on One Quilt Project at a Time Can:

Increase risk of monotony

Can delay finishing other important quilt projects

Limit skill exposure

Limit adaptability

At this point, I hope you have some idea of what kind of quilter you are – either you’re comfortable handing multiple projects at once or you strongly favor the one-at-a-time process.  Taking into account that according to the CIA’s Quilt Alliance 2024 Survey, most quilters work on more than one project at a time, next week we will delve into a few ways to possibly prioritize projects and keep them moving along at a reasonable rate. 

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

It’s that time of year again.  It’s the New Year, so that means we get to revisit my quilting predictions for 2024 and decide how well I did (or how badly I blew it) for the past year’s trip around the sun.  Then I throw in 2025’s quilting predictions and announce our theme for this year.  So without further ado, let’s see how well (or how badly) I did with my 2024 forecasts.

• Kiss the “normal” neutrals/background fabrics goodbye.  Okay, 2024 was the year which completely blasted our normal, staid background fabrics out of the quilting water.  I’ve seen every hue and shade of blue, pink, red, orange and every other color involved in the rainbow considered a neutral.  Pick a color.  Declare it a neutral.  Run with it (without your scissors, of course – safety first). 

• Look for more animal prints, geometric prints, textured fabric, and fabrics with metallic accents.  Each and every year brings such a smorgasbord of new fabrics, this one was really difficult to keep up with, but I do think I was correct on this prediction, too.  While we still retained our beautiful florals, I did see a broadening of the fabric horizons.  It does truly seem like quilters can find any fabric with any theme.

•  Most fabric will have cleaner hues with less shades.  Yes.  This was the year for lovely hues which I think was one of the reasons we have neutrals in all colors.  Those clear colors are just too lovely to hide.  However, remember we need shades, hues, tints, and darks to make beautiful quilts.  Even if you’re enamored with the hues, you need the other colors to give your quilt depth and sparkle.

• Batiks will remain a strong fabric player in the quilt game.  I think this has proven true.  Batiks have been a main stay in our fabric world since the Fifth Century and a part of our quilting world since 1918.  I honestly don’t believe they are going anywhere.  However, while the batik manufacturers continually amaze me with their prints, they do have competitors entering their fabric field.  With my foray into three T-shirt quilts this year, I assumed I would be pulling out batiks left and right to construct three Harley Davidson quilts.

I didn’t.

Grunge, Drybrush, and several other fabrics are eating into this world.  While I think Batiks will always be a part of our quilting domain, I do think they will need to continue to develop new prints (which they are doing).  I still would much rather work with Batiks for raw-edge applique than any other fabric.

•  Digital Fabrics will still have a presence in quilting, but it will not be as big.  I think I was about 50/50 with this prediction.  Digital fabrics have remained a part of our fabric structure; however, I don’t think it took up as large of a part of the fabric world as it wanted – but the area it did take was bigger than I wanted it to encompass.

In short, I’m not a huge fan.  While digital fabrics are beautiful, a quilter still has to jump through hoops to work with them.   Slick threads, thin needles, plus the fact some brands are notorious for bleeding, make them particularly difficult to deal with.  And that’s just with piecing.  Quilting is an entirely different story.  Since digitally printed fabric has not proven as inexpensive to produce as hypothesized, it may or may not continue to be an active player in the fabric field.  If future technology lowers the cost, probably.  If not, it may only be available for specialty fabrics.

•  Poppy Cotton Fabrics is an up and comer.  Delightfully true.  Their prints continue to thrill my quilting soul.  Last year I could only find their fabric on their website.  When I did a quick web search before this blog, I found them on Etsy, Shabby Fabric, and Hancock’s of Paducah.  I’m sure they’re in more brick-and-mortars and web sites than just these three.

•  Quilted Clothing will be popular.  While I don’t think quilted clothing was as popular as it could have been, I do think it definitely made a blip on the fashion radar.  I saw more “cutter quilts” (old quilts, even antique ones, which were too badly damaged to be of any worth), cut apart and made into jackets and vests.  I also saw more quilted jackets and coats than I have in several years.

•  Quilted Bags will be popular.  While I did not get a chance to delve into this quilting craft, boy are the instructions, fabric, notions, and accessories out there!  I have purchased several patterns as well as all the supp;ies.  I plan on sticking a toe into this quilting ocean soon.

• Paper piecing is making a strong comeback.  Numerically, it’s impossible to say how many paper piecing patterns were sold in 2023 or so far in 2024.  However, marketing trends do show that this technique has a large following and remains a popular quilting method, and sales of paper piecing patterns are high. Marketing trends also note that paper piecing patterns are sold across all quilting platforms. 

  2024 was the year for great block-of-the-months.  My debit card can faithfully witness to this fact.  You know BOMs are kind of hit and miss.  There have been years when none of them were interesting and then there are years like 2024 when you have to make some serious decisions about which one(s) you’ll participate in because they all seem so lovely.  After 2024’s hit on my quilting budget, I’m almost afraid to peruse 2025’s. 

With 2024’s predictions behind us, let’s look ahead to the New Year and see where it may take us.

•  Eco-conscious Florals – While 2024 introduced us to geometrics and metallics and other prints, 2025 may bring a lot of us quilters back to our “safe zone” – florals.  However, I’m talking about updated florals with a purpose.  Floral prints will include those of rare plants, fabric which uses all-natural plant dyes instead of chemicals, and material which promotes plant conservation. 

• Welcome to the World of Abstract Geometrics — The abstract geometric trend is set to evolve in 2025, moving beyond simple shapes to more complex mathematical concepts. This fusion of math and art will result in stunning, thought-provoking designs, which will include optical illusions and odd shapes, sacred geometry inspired motifs, and fractals (reoccurring shapes ranging in size from impossibly large to incredibly small).

• Get in Touch with Your Inner Mythical Being – As our worlds – even our quilting world – becomes increasingly digital-bound, we all will need some kind of escape hatch.  Enter fabric with unicorns, mythological creatures from all cultures: Dragons, phoenixes, mermaids, and sea monsters.  Not only will these whimsical fabrics give our minds a break, they may also let us tell our own quilted fairytale in the process.

• From Atoms to Galaxies — The fascination with both the infinitesimally small and the vastly large will influence quilting designs in 2025. Expect to see fabrics that explore microscopic patterns inspired by cell structures and DNA, cosmic prints featuring nebulae, galaxies, star clusters and designs that play with scale, juxtaposing tiny elements with grand cosmic scenes.
•  Cultural Fusion — As global connections deepen, 2025 will see a trend towards quilting designs that celebrate cultural heritage with a modern twist. Look for traditional motifs from various cultures reinterpreted in contemporary color palettes, fusion designs that blend elements from different cultural art forms, and fabrics that tell stories of migration, identity, and global community

•  Eco-Friendly Fabrics — Sustainability will be at the forefront of quilting trends in 2025, with a focus on eco-friendly materials and production methods. Expect to see organic cotton prints with low-impact dyes, fabrics made from recycled materials — including plastic bottles and discarded textiles, and innovative textiles created from sustainable sources like bamboo, hemp, and algae. These sustainable options will allow quilters to create beautiful projects while minimizing their environmental impact.

•  Technology-Inspired Prints — As technology continues to shape our world, it will also influence quilting designs in 2025. Look for fabrics that feature glitch art and pixelated patterns, circuit board inspired designs, and augmented reality elements that come to life when viewed through a smartphone app.

•  Finding Your Zen — With an increased focus on mental health and well-being, 2025 will see quilting designs that promote mindfulness and relaxation. Expect fabrics with mandala patterns for meditative piecing, Zen garden inspired prints, and calming color palettes and soothing textures.

• Quilting Cottons That Go 3-D — 2025 will push the boundaries of what quilting fabrics can do, with a trend towards interactive and multisensory designs. Look for fabrics with raised textures and 3D elements, thermochromic prints that change color with temperature, and glow-in-the-dark and reflective elements for added dimension.

•   The Possible Rise of Custom Fabrics – This prediction hinges on a 2024 prediction:  While the technology is there to print nearly any type of fabric we want, digital fabrics still have a few “kinks” to work out of their system.  If technology improves and the cost of digital fabrics comes down, advancements in digital printing technology will make personalized fabric designs more accessible than ever in 2025.  And if that happens, we can expect easy-to-use platforms for creating custom fabrics, options to incorporate personal photos and/or artwork into quilt fabrics, and AI-assisted design tools to help quilters bring their vision to life.

With 2024 predictions examined and 2025 predictions listed, now it’s time to reveal this year’s theme.  I struggled with this for a while until I re-read my 2025 forecast and realized that this upcoming year may show the biggest change in our fabric world.  So, with keeping that in mind, the 2025 Yearly Theme Is:

Embracing Tradition and Innovation

2025 has the unique possibility of shaking up our fabric world.  However, no matter how lovely or thought-provoking the fabric is, without adherence to good technique and a solid set of quilting skills, all you have left is a pile of pretty fabric with half-wished dreams.  So while we explore the new, we will also re-visit tale-as-old-as-time technique and guidelines.  And while yes, you must remember there are no hard, fast, forever rules in quilting, techniques are there for a reason.

And finally, it was last year I had the wonderful opportunity to introduce Felix to you folks.  For the year he’s been with us, it’s truly been a beautiful journey.  He loves to play, will stalk you down for a cat treat, has no inhibitions towards catnip, and has just settled in our family like he’s always been a part of it. 

However, this cat has big dreams…

His picture was submitted to PawPrints for their 2025 Cat Calendar, and (drumroll please), I’d like to present Mr. December Cat

Felix

He has a list of agents he wants me to call. 

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix