Helen Bankert

Has anyone ever used linen table clothes for fabric in quilts? I have been given 5 linen table clothes. Some of them have spots but the material is in good condition. They do not fit my table. I was thinking of cutting it in square and machine embroidering with red work. Would the fabric look too wrinkled after washing? Possiblely someone could give me some idea what to do with them.

SparkMonkey

I've worked with linen in garments, but not quilts. I'd imagine if you quilt it relatively densely (like 1 1/5"-2" ), it wouldn't wrinkle too badly. Linen has a nice rumply texture after tumble drying; it's when it gets folded or creased that it gets badly wrinkled. As long as it doesn't get folded up on a shelf, it should retain a nice texture. Bear in mind it doesn't shrink like cotton, so pre-shrink any cottons that will be mixed in with it.

Linen is a beautiful background for embroidery, so I think you've got a good idea! Make sure you show us when you're done. ;)

Sallyflymi

I haven't. But would give it a try. Do a table runner or something smaller to start with.

frarose

Sounds like it could be quite pretty.