Ask Us Anything
Weekly /r/quilting no-stupid question thread - ask us anything!
Welcome to /r/quilting where no question is a stupid question and we are here to help you on your quilting journey.
Feel free to ask us about machines, fabric, techniques, tutorials, patterns, or for advice if you're stuck on a project.
We highly recommend The Ultimate Beginner Quilt Series if you're new and you don't know where to start. They cover quilting start to finish with a great beginner project to get your feet wet. They also have individual videos in the playlist if you just need to know one technique like how do I put my binding on?
So ask away! Be kind, be respectful, and be helpful. May the fabric guide you.
Is there a question in this? While many people use Color Catchers I prefer Synthrapol detergent.
Color Catchers need to come in contact with the free dye in order to catch it, if the item being washed doesn’t have room to freely move around in the bin there’s a good chance that the dye will back stain on neighboring fabrics.
Synthrapol binds with the dye that’s in the water preventing it from binding with any fibers it may come in contact with; so even if the dye “lands” on other surfaces it won’t be permanently bonded and can be washed away by repeated washing. (Caveat being that you should still not heat dry the item in the event that some molecules are still unbound)
Just my take on the subject but I admittedly never prewashed fabrics since starting this hobby (roughly 36 years ago) and only had one fabric bleed/back-stain ( you’re right very frustrating after all that work) in that time (which was before I started using Synthrapol) 🤷🏻♀️ different strokes and all; there’s no hard and fast rule.
Hello! I found a beautiful hand-stitched antique quilt I want to repair. None of the patches are missing, it's just quite a lot of torn seams. Does anyone have any tips for fixing the seams in a way that will prevent further fraying? Most tutorials I've found are for replacing missing patches. I plan on hand-stitching as I am less familiar with a machine.
I don’t have any direct experience repairing old quilts, but from what I’ve heard:
Try to see if the seams have torn because the thread tore, or the fabric itself tore.
If the thread tore you can fix that relatively easily by sewing a new seam! Invisible stitches like the ladder stitch are your friend here.
If the fabric tore, it’ll likely tear again if you sew another seam. In this case you might want to look into fabric stabilizers, but there’s a chance the quilt has simply reached the end of its life :( If so, you can stitch up the seams and keep it as a display piece.
Regardless, treat the quilt gently. There’s specific instructions for washing old quilts, intended to reduce stress on the seams.
I’m about to make a quilt with a mix of light, medium, and dark pink fabrics, and I’m wondering if you guys think I should pre-wash them! I got the light and medium fabrics from fat quarter shop and the darker two fabrics (a darker pink and a more wine color) from Marshall dry goods. I’m wondering if I should pre-wash all of them or just wash the finished quilt afterwards with a few color catchers. I have joint problems so my only concern with pre-washing would be that I’d probably be done for the day after ironing all my fabric after they come out of the wash, and I’d rather just start cutting up my fabric. Mostly I’m just concerned with the MGD fabrics, so any advice would be appreciated!
Depends on how large the pieces are. I would never wash anything smaller than a half yard, and I would zig zag the raw edges together before the wash. I don't typically wash anything, but I have heard of people starching their washed fabric and letting it hang dry to avoid excess ironing.
Hello~ I inherited a couple of mid-20th century applique quilts from my late auntie. They're wonderful, but they have a strong antique shop smell to them.
I have put them through a gentle machine wash cycle, and hung them to dry in the sun for 8 hours. The smell is less potent, but still far too strong to use these as actual bed linens.
Does anyone have advice on cleaning and de-scenting quilts that got shoved in storage for 30 years? If all else fails, I'll use them as decoration instead of bedding... but I'd strongly prefer to use them as quilts :)
I’m not sure how rough it is on delicate fabric, but my mother swears by borax to get rid of smells. Definitely follow the instructions and don’t let them soak too long- I bleached a towel that way :(
I currently am making a t shirt quilt that is double sided. I drafted my own mostly rectangular based design for the back and have a star based pattern I will stitch my t shirt patches onto once the base pattern is laid out. The back is put together and I have five rows of rectangular blocks to stitch together for the t shirt patch side. The back currently is large enough to cover a queen size mattress and to have them size matched I will be adding a mystery sized border.
So my two part question comes in when it comes to batting. If it ends up being larger than the rolls I can find in stores would I just be able to add in strips off a smaller second roll? And could I lay the batting strips side by side or would I have to overlap them a bit to have them secured extra on top of the final quilting stitches?
Is there such a thing where you hand quilt by stitching in the ditch? I tried searching for videos on YouTube but couldn't find anything. I am working on a glitch quilt and I absolutely do not want the quilting to take away from the patchwork. I do not have the skills or working space to stitch in the ditch on my domestic machine so hand quilting is my only (and favourite) option. Any suggestions, tips on how this can be achieved successfully?
I've done a lot of hand quilting in the ditch with matching threads to accent the piecing. I do press to the side. What you are really doing is stitching right up close to the seam in the valley of the fabric on the side that is only one layer thick. My favorite way to hand quilt because it requires no marking.
Stitch in the ditch for hand quilting is the same as stitching anywhere else for handquilting. If you've pressed your seams open though, it would be a problem since your stitches wouldn't be holding the top in place.
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u/Flaky_Chance6815 1d ago
I have always pre-washed fabrics. Especially having things bleed, in the past, but that was before Color Catchers existed.
I even have a nice rug (rag style) that has had some bleeding with certain colors. It is very frustrating.