Quilting Fabrics

A poorly-chosen fabric won't hold up and last through time. You want your fabric to wear well as it's common for family members to display a quilt made by a great-grandmother that is still intact and serviceable. Quilts become memories and it's the quilting fabrics that make those memories last.

Best Quilting Fabrics

Expert quilters teach beginning quilters of the craft that 100% cotton is the preferred quilting fabric. This is especially true when it has been carefully washed and pressed to prevent shrinkage in the finished quilt. The "batting," fabric or central interior of the quilt, should preferably be either cotton or polyester. Even the quilting threads used to piece the quilt together should be 100% cotton poly-wrapped thread to insure the optimum durability of the quilt.

Quilting fabrics can come from many sources. They can be purchased at your local craft stores or they might be derived from the old clothing or bed linens of your family. It's very common, at quilt fairs and contests to hear the artists discussing the history of each piece of quilting fabric as they bring back memories of the past. "This is a piece of cloth from my grandmother's wedding dress," or "this bright blue piece is from Jan's first pair of shorts."

Children often have vivid memories of their mothers or grandmothers stashing fabrics in a box or fabric chest, These pieces will eventually be turned into one of the world's oldest needle creations. Regardless of their origin, quilting fabrics often tell a story. They tell the story of each piece being specially chosen with care by the quilter for that particular quilt because of its color, pattern, memory and suitability.

Block Piecing and Foundation Piecing

Quilting fabrics are measured by the "yardage" necessary to complete the entire project. Patterns can be custom-designed, changed, or reduced in size by the quilter. For example, a quilt design meant for a full-size bed covering can easily be reduced in size to form a baby's quilted blanket. It is common for the underside of the quilt to be made from a single, large piece of quilting fabric. Thus, a finished quilt may have a maroon underside with a patchwork pattern of many different colors as the top layer. The two layers are then filled with a cotton batting fabric.

Don't Forget Your Quilting Fabric Details

Your piece's edge "binding" (i.e. the narrow strip of fabric used to finish off the raw edges of the quilt) and "border" (i.e. fabric strips that go around the outside section of the quilt that 'frames' the pattern) are also important considerations when choosing quilting fabrics. They should be sturdy and suited to keep the quilt from fraying over time. The fabrics you choose insure your quilt's structural integrity so that it will last for many years and through the generations that it is passed through.