PREPARING TEXTILES for QUILTING

There is more to making a quilt than just buying the material, cutting it and then sewing it together.

Preparing the fabric

The fabric you use must be prepared for quilting and to prevent shrinkage.

Some quilters suggest you wash your material. I'm telling you if you have ever put 10 yards of material in a washing machine and then to a dryer you will know what a tangled mess we weave with this!

A simpler method is to steam iron the material. Very easy and very quick and it does the trick. Just run an iron lightly over the surface - you don't even have to touch to surface of the material - just give it a shot of steam once in awhile as you do this. Allow it to be dry before you refold you material. That's it! All nicely preshrunk for you.

Colors that run

What about strong colors? Strong colors such as reds can bleed out on the first washing.

First sew across the raw edges of the material with a basting stitch.

I usually take two - three yards of material at a time and put it into a sink with the hottest water possible. At to this a couple of cups of vinegar. Allow to soak for no more than 15 minutes. This allows the color to set.

Rinse the water clear. Tumble dry in a dryer with a dark towel. The towel helps the material to dry faster. Then iron very lightly so as not to pull the material off grain.

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