Malaysian Fabric Heritage

It is relatively common to use wool in quilts. These quilts are outstanding for cold weather.

Wool retains heat extremely well. Wool probably retains heat better than cotton, and has the same wicking properties (they draw moisture away from your body and allows it to evaporate.) Wool quilts were very common during the Civil War, and were credited with saving many lives during the harsh winters.

Wool is a little more difficult to work with than cotton. Because it is generally thicker (each thread of wool is thicker than each thread of cotton), the seam allowances don’t finger press well, and will require pins to keep them in place.

Because of the thickness, the quilt will be bulkier, and it may require a stronger sewing machine needle to sew through all of the layers.

Hand quilting is different because of the thickness of the fabric and also the weave. Some wools have fewer threads per inch than cotton, so your quilting stitches should be longer, and you may want to use a thicker thread.

Until recently, wool was mostly “Dry Clean Only.” Each strand of wool has little barbs on it. When they become wet and agitated (as in a washing machine), the barbs join together, never to be separated. This is called “felting,” and creates a piece of fabric or quilt that is about 1/3 its original size. very disappointing if you have spent hours on the project and were hoping to would remain the same size.

New wool is on the market that they say is washable and will not shrink. Using a new biotech process, wool can be treated so it is washable in your home washing machine and will not shrink. This is a great benefit, and will require quilters to know the difference and which wool they have, so a tragic mistake is not made.

Wools tend to be more expensive than cotton, and the variety of colors and patterns available is somewhat limited. As quilters venture into other types of fabric, the selection is increasing, so look for a wider variety of wool in the future – including hand-dyed wools.

Final thoughts. With all of its challenges, wool makes great quilts. They are cuddly and warm, and drape very nicely. Try wool batting in the quilt for a 100% wool quilt.

There is so much variety available in fabric shops, on-line, and in mail-order catalogs that it’s almost difficult to choose. Often, I end up buying fabric whether I need it right now or not. After all, a quilter must always have fabric on hand.

The “magic” comes when you find a fabric that you fall in love with. Finding a suitable fabric usually isn’t difficult for a project you’re working on. Settling on just one fabric is the hard part.

Here are some criteria to keep in mind when making fabric selections: colorfast quality; fiber content; surface design. If you stick to some guidelines about these criteria, then you’re sure to be pleased with the final result of your project.

Surface Design:

The printed or woven surface design and, of course, the color, is very important.

1) Try to pick fabrics with the same color value so one doesn’t stand out in the finished quilt.

2)Check to see if there is a one-way direction in the design; you may need to purchase extra fabric to allow for cutting fabrics with plaids or stripes.

3) The size of the design and the background spaces are also important considerations. Are the designs large, medium, or small? Is the background area prominent? How will this particular fabric look when cut it into small quilt pieces? If the design is too widely spaced, it may be lost in the cutting of the fabric.

Take a few minutes to analyze fabric and keep these questions in mind when purchasing fabric. It is far better to have left over fabric than be working on a project and run out of material. I’ve run out before only to find that the fabric is no longer in stock.

Colorfast Quality:

Avoid fabrics that fade. Pigment-dyed fabric resists light 40 hours. Wet-printed resists light 20 hours. The best thing to avoid having your quilt fade is to keep it out of direct sunlight.

Fiber Content:

The fiber content is especially important when purchasing fabric for quilts. The way fabric responds to manipulation is determined by the fiber content. The standard 100% cotton fabric sold for quilting is easy to work with and this is the best choice.

Cotton blends are harder to work with; they tend to shift while cutting or sewing them. 100% cotton is strong when wet, absorbs moisture, creases easily, irons nicely at high temperatures and wears well.

Beware of Discount Fabric:

For a good finished product, quilters need to purchase good-quality, colorfast cotton fabric from a reputable supplier. I’ve bought fabric from discount stores because I liked the print. Then I had trouble manipulating the material; it would shift and bunch as I sewed it.

The finished product usually reflected the problems I encountered while sewing. No matter how much money I saved on material, my time was wasted by producing a less than satisfactory quilt.

In order to be happy with your finished product, I recommend that you buy what appeals to you… as long as it is good-quality, colorfast cotton fabric that is treated with finishes to control shrinkage, resist soil, and resist wrinkling.

Janet Montie shares helpful tips and discoveries from a lifelong study of topics related to fabric and quilting. Visit First Class Fabric and The Quilt Box, your premier resources on-line for information on fabric or quilts.