I do have floresent lighting and have heard it will fade fabric. but as you see there were many blocks in that quilt that didn't fade , so I don't think that the problem is the lighting .

seeing that was the seconed quilt I made I did not realize there were differences in fabrics. I'm just glad I never quilted it and could remove the piece . Now I feel I can finish it .

i've had good fabric folded on shelves in a dark basement room and still had fade marks on the folds when i opened it up. i think time and any amount of light eats away at cottons. the best you can do is rotate, to make each each one lasts longer, but 11 years is a long time.

I remember reading at least one article by a quilt fabric manufacturer in Quilter's Newsletter Magazine that mentioned different dyes have different abilities to withstand fading. They just aren't able to get all fabric dyes to resist fading equally.

Mary L,

I suffer from a rare disease that is aggrevated by sunlight and florescrent lighting. I am very aware of the power of sunlight.
I also have quilts that have faded so much in parts that they look like two different fabrics. As much as we want our work to last forever it will only do so if we hide it away from the light etc. Your quilt was charming aren't you glad you were able to share it with your family and friends? I have seasonal wallhangings I rotate on a rack on my kitchen wall. I would imagine they are faded if I were to compare them with fabric leftover from their construction. If I enjoyed making them the first time I might not mind repeating the task. It would give me a chance to not make the same mistakes I made the first time around.

I have some 20-25 year old fabrics I bought at an estate sale. This elderly lady had gotten them from Ben Franklin and the like. They are in great condition. A lot of the newer fabrics are pretty crummy.

Some of you know I run an online fabric store. Even my kids can tell the difference. When we unpack fabric from Springs (Walmart carries a lot of it - Spiderman, Cars, Strawberry Shortcake,) it smells. I think the dye process and treatment for the fabric is the cheapest possible and you can really tell. My little ones will show up from across the house going ewww that's the stinky fabric.

Julie

I'll smell fabric from now on LOL ! No one likes stinky fabric !!!!!!