Sometimes you can blame the fabric…
I’m kind of on a roll here with some quilting basics so I thought I’d focus on fabric this week. Your fabric makes a difference! I learned this early in my quilting days:
This is a portion of a well-loved quilt that I made for my now 30 year old son. See how all the other fabrics around the pink print are intact? All over the quilt, the pink print gave way long before the other fabrics. I do remember where I bought that fabric, I do—at a big box store. You have to be vigilant when buying fabric at a big box stores and search for quality fabric. I bought the rest of the fabric at a quilt shop.
Yes, it is possible to get bad fabric at a quilt shop, but unlikely. The quality of most of the fabric at big box stores is lower than what you’ll find at your local quilt shop. I have another quilt that I made for my younger son’s bed that did the same thing-one of the 3 main fabrics disintegrated long before the others.
And fabric quality also makes a difference in your free motion quilting:
Example 1: I made this “doodle” quilt several years back, in response to an online challenge to doodle a whole cloth quilt. I was happy with the result except in the area of the parallel lines. This was long before anyone was using rulers on a domestic machine, so the lines are wobbly. But…
See all those zig-zaggy lines? That is not me nor my stitching. I knew all of the following were good: tension (mostly), thread, needle, batting. So what was it? I knew where to go for that answer-Superior Threads.
I was using Superior thread and needles so I called their 800 number. I know from experience that they actually answer the phone and will help you diagnose your problem. We quickly deduced that it had to be the fabric. So let’s pull in for a closer look:
I know it’s a little blurry, but you can see that the fabric is very coarsely woven, with fat threads and lots of space between them. The reason I got those zig-zaggy stitches was because my needle would come down on one of those coarse threads and it would deflect right or left, resulting in the wobbly line. Soooo…
I didn’t change anything except the fabric and this is what I got. Fabric does make a difference.
Example #2: Way back when there was an international quilt festival in Long Beach, Ca, I had a conversation with a very experienced and well-known quilter who had taken a free motion quilting class (she did not fmq). She said “I can’t free motion quilt”. Well, I could not let that one stand! I said I knew that she could, but she said no, and shoved her project from the class into my hands. “See!”.
Okay, her project was pretty rickety. But it was made all the worse by the instructor’s choice of thread and fabric! She chose burlap fabric and quilted it with a skinny poly thread. Ewe! I don’t have her project but came as close as I could with the fabric I have on hand. I do not have icky coarse fabric in my stash now (snort!), so I found the most coarse fabric I had and did the following:
I don’t know how well my photo coveys my point. The fabric is somewhat coarse, but high quality. On the left I used a skinny 60 wt poly thread. It looks like spider web. The tension is good but it looks…puny. On the right I used a 50 wt 3-ply thread which looks better. On both though, the curves appear a little pixelated because of the coarse weave. The point is that coarse fabric does not make free motion quilting look its most beautiful. Think twice before free motion quilting on coarsely woven fabric and if you do, use a beefy thread.
Fabric does make a difference! I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday where all the good links hang out.
Thank you! I have been trying to explain to my student, aka apprentice, the importance of good quality fabrics. She has accepted that it is needed, but I can tell it still bothers her a little that she can’t just buy the cheapest thing at Joanne’s even if it is pretty. We just have to plan ahead and watch for good sales.
I didn’t write this in the post (puposefully) but I bought that fabric at JoAnn’s. They now do stock some quality fabric but YOU KNOW that we have to be careful about our choices. I hope your student gets this and does not learn the hard way.
Thanks Jenny! Very informative post. I talk about fabrics in my classes too – call them good, better,best like Sears used to say. I talked to a Hoffman rep years ago and he said they sell to stores like Joann’s, but it’s the good range. I do a good bit of hand piecing, GFG, BB, and using highquality and washed fabrics makes all the difference in the feel and ease of sewing.
Thanks for the comment Debbie! That’s a nice way to say it “good, better and best”. I can feel and see quality fabric and can’t stand to use the icky stuff anymore. But so many quilters are just looking for price and it hurts to know that their quilt will not wear well.
When I first read your previous post on how thread weight impacts ideal stitch length I posted a comment that this was absolutely the best explanation I had ever seen! Somehow that post did not make it into the comments section. That’s okay because today you have again explained another important factor for quilting that is often overlooked; and you explained it so clearly! I’m so loving your blog even more than usual – & that’s difficult to do!!
Sorry your comment did not post Brenda-bummer. Thank you so much for the comment!
Jenny, your Post is so timely! I’m currently quilting a comfort quilt, which has an In The Beginning fabric for the backing. That backing feels so smooth and soft, as is typical of that manufacturer. I’m teaching myself ruler work on this quilt, and although I have a long way to go, the backside quilting looks great, no doubt because of the fabric. Last week’s post and this one were just what I needed—thank you!
Ah, fabric makes such a difference! Glad that you found my posts useful Mrs. Plum!
Excellent post! You have brought up several ideas here that are making me reconsider a current project, and I’m thankful they came in the beginning instead of the end. Much appreciated.
Wow! Powerful observations! I have been frustrated sometimes with FMQ – I can see the problem has been with my fabric (especially with straight lines). May I share this link with my quilt guild?
Connie I am so glad that you found this useful. Yes, please share! Thank you for asking!
Jenny, Thanks, I too learned the hard way. Years ago I bought some plain black fabric at (shudder) Wal-Mart and used it as sashing. Well over the years it deteriorated. I bought some Kona in black and hand stitched it over the torn bits. The quilt now looks great and I did not have to tear it apart.
Yes, you know that is happening all the time with quilts made from inferior fabrics. Sorry about your story but you sure did find a clever fix Joy!
Is there somewhere we can find a list of manufacturers you always do quality fabrics? I know Moda is one,but not sure of others. Thanks.
Sorry, there isn’t a list that I know of Ceil. Funny you should ask though. I just attended a mini-workshop on how to identify bad fabric. I hope todo a little research and write about it.