I grew up with a sewing mother but never learned how to sew, myself. Now, at age 50, I'm learning how to sew, and she no longer can because of arthritis, so she gave me ALL of her fabric when she moved recently. There's a ton of polyester from the 70s (she taught classes in sewing men's suits), and some great wool! Is wool a good fabric to use when quilting? I have about 6 yards of a beautiful grey/blue and some solid dark gray, about 3 yards. If I do use it, is it ok to wash it or does it have to be dry cleaned?

I also have an aunt who recently passed away who was a professional embroidery sewer (had a shop and did it for others), and my uncle gave me two boxes of her fabric and I don't know what it is but think it's mostly cotton.

I may have some kind of "trade you" thing if anyone is interested, since I'm organizing and starting my stash ... and getting ready to start my second quilt (warm wishes pattern, for a chemo patient).


Thanks in advance for your help!

Sharon

Oh! I'm drooling! Yes, wool is a great fabric to use for quilting. It's wonderful for applique because the edges don't fray & the color is so saturated it makes the quilts seem to glow. You would definitely want to wash them to make sure they shrink up, but I think that's about it.

My husband has a quilt made from polyester that his grandmother made him about 35 years ago. The darn thing is just as bright and useable as the day he received it.

If you decide to make a quilt for someone with Alzheimers, it is recommended to use various fabrics with different textures and feels to them. Your polyester fabrics would work great for this, as it would for quilts made for Rest Homes and Veteran's Homes, where such quilts get washed in heavy detergent quite often. Just a thought.

I have never used wool in my quilts.

I did a quilt that combined wool and cotton (I don't follow the rules). I washed the wool in hot and ran it through the dryer on hot first so any shrinkage happened before I cut and sewed. I loved working with it.

Yes, definitely wool can be used in quilts. You need to "felt it" -- run it through the hot water wash and dryer. It will shrink and be really nice and fluffy :D

If the wool is not washable I wouldn't use it.

I've never heard of a wool that couldn't be washed. Does it have a particular brand name?

Wool makes a wonderful quilt. It does have a little stretch to it, and so I always use my walking foot, some call it even-feed foot. Yes, I am drooling, too!

The reason some wools are not washed is the shrinkage washing causes. Usually the rule is applied to already constructed garments.

always wash your wool, and if you took it to a cleaners they would not dry clean your wool, they wash it! wool is fabulous to work with, mixes well with other fabrics, i am just finishing a quilt with wool, cotton and silk fabrics, and it is wonderful! great for hand stitching too, your needles love going through it!
lots have different ideas how they work with their wool, i like very warm quilts, so i use wool batting and flannel backing for my wool quilts :)