My sister was sold onasburg to use in an English Paper pieced grandmother's flower garden quilt. She just brought it to my house & was showing it to me. I think it is onasburg, it is fraying & I am afraid that once she washes it it will fray alot. Any comments ? Has any one used it ?
The Rustic Quilter

Yes you can had a freind do a overhall Sam on it.

Well.. you can use it.. but I wouldn't. It's a loose enough weave that I would be very worried about it fraying. Especially with a quilt that might be washed a lot.

What does an overhall sam mean? did they use the onasburg as pieces in the quilt?

Tippy, that is exactly what I told her. I used to use it in craft projects & fray the edges. Poor thing has six sets of six flowers done so far. I told her to rip it all out. She bought a bolt and a half from the local quilt shop. This gal told her it was muslin. She is new to quilting & didn't know any better.

I think Jazzy519 is talking about Overall Sam which is an applique pattern that goes along with Sunbonnet Sue.

I've been told not to use Onasburg in a quilt. But what do I know?

I've used it, but only as a center of a rag quilt to make the ragging look and feel better. I'm not sure how you would use it as regular fabric.

It has a very high shrinkage factor, and once it's washed, it's actually a pretty neat fabric. I'm drawn to the homespun look of it, and have used it as the background fabric for several embroidery projects.

The one on my bed doesn't get washed much, but the one on the back of the chair and on top of the W/D have been washed a gazillion times, and even with all that dense embroidery, they are not fraying or showing any signs of distress. I ALWAYS washed Osnaburg in hot water and dry in a hot dryer prior to using it in a quilt.

She should use a lightweight fusable interfacing on the back of onasburg to keep it from fraying. I've done that when I've used other types of fabrics that fray.