Call me crazy, but I am making some quilts for a friend at work. A bit of history. She has a collection of hand painted linen wall hangings (with rolled edges) from Australia and wants them made into quilts for her sons. She brought them to me along with 2 very fluffy comforters she wanted them applied to. I convinced her the comforters would not work and wasn't sure the linen would make good quilts, how about just using them as wall hangings? Nope wants quilts, don't cut them, just put together and quilt. I'm afraid to wash them cause they will really shrink. I have some unwashed muslin I can use for the back (she is ok with that), and I keep Warm and Natural batting by the roll. I will have to draw sewing lines and pin carefully to get them to fit together (can't cut them remember).

Now to my question. Does anyone have any experience with using linen in quilts. I am so afraid she is going to regret this and don't want to put much quilting into it in case she decides to take them apart at some time. She has been collecting these for a long time, and I really don't want to destroy them.

NOTE: I found the info I was looking for. Its on Elizabeth Hartman's blog (Oh Fransson!) Here is the link:

http://www.ohfransson.com/oh_fransso...g-fabric-.html


Well, I know that some quilters do use linen as a fabric for quilts, but that is different then hand painted wall hanging.

What a project.

Keep up posted.

I will look up the quilters who use linen and let you know. Maybe you can email them for advice?

sounds like too many conditions placed on your work from a non quilter.

I think so too. I wouldn't take that job.

I would be very concerned that at the first laundering the hand painting would be ...gone or damaged. As far as quilting on linen , it can be done, but my experience is that it does not wear that well in real use, but so much depends on the quality of the linen. Many newer linen has other fibers , which can be a plus or minus. Yes , linen does shrink, and since the origin is undetrmined , it is really difficult to advise how much shrinkage. Linen also wrinkles so much more than just cotton. Infact it is best to iron linen slightly damp for best results.
This is not something I would recomend to someone to do with hand painted linen.

Thanks for the link Corky. I'm afraid her linen is much coarser than the ones used on the site. She did test wash one piece and the painting did really well, but it was terribly wrinkled.

I had a chat with her today and she said she knows the boys will say "Oooh, nice", fold them up and put them in the closet. But she really wants them put into a quilt. So I put together one top this afternoon. The pieces are not straight and are not painted straight on top of that, but I sashed them with black and got them evened up. Didn't put the border on yet, I didn't want to have to take it off if she doesn't like it. All things considered, I'm pleased with the way it looks. Quilting it may be another matter ...

More updates after she sees it tomorrow.