I'm coming back to the experts for more advice. I'm sorting a huge box of scraps that came from my grandmother's house. There are very few selvages, so I don't know the content on most of them, but some are 100% cotton. Some are very thick, almost like denim, while some are very thin, like a ladies summer blouse. Some are so thin that I don't know if I can use them, sort of a gauzy type material. I'm pretty sure most of them have some cotton content. Everything has been washed and I'm in the process of pressing it all.

My question is, should I leave out the thinnest pieces? I want to make something that can be used, so I want to use durable fabrics. But some thin fabrics are just as durable as the thicker ones.

Also, should I eliminate anything that is too stretchy or too stiff? I plan on either making random scraps or possibly tumbler or pyramid charm quilts.

Thanks in advance,

Darren

I would be more likely to make a quilt of all of the stretchy fabrics all together. Some of the thinner fabrics can be backed with iron on interfacing, or maybe even used as batting for a summer quilt.
Remember, crazy quilts were made of all types of fabrics, they may not hold up as long as traditional cotton ones, but they can be very pretty, and make lovely wall hangings too :wink::D:D:D

You can do a burn test on small scraps to determine the fiber content. Now I don't know what the smoke or the residue on true cotton looks like, but synthetics will curl up (I think);

If you want to make a regular pieced quilt, I would recommend staying with similar weight fabric. If you want to make an art quilt or a crazy quilt, you can use foundation piecing and really - anything goes. If you want to use the thinner pieces in your regular quilt, you can back them with an interfacing or a foundation stabilizer and use them anyway,

A lot is personal choice.

100% cotton will leave a fine soft ash. synthetic will leave a bit of gummy or hard residue behind.
Wool just won't burn.

Quite a few years ago, I received stretchy knit fabric already cut into triangles and squares from my great-aunt in Utah. I have been handpiecing the blocks and was afraid the stretch was going to be a real killer once it went on a bed. I found some cotton in a coordinating pattern, tiny floral, that I'm going to use to sash it to give it some body. I've never done it before so we'll see what happens. Since my aunt had taken the time to cut it all out, it has sentimental value because it was from her. I think you can use just about anything in a quilt. They are works of art, individual and beautiful to the creators. Good luck.
Wendy

I only use cotton

cotton fabrics will burn to ash and anything synthetic will burn to a plastic looking lump

Undies.....nvm....that's too gross..sorry


LOL

Check the post about the faux suede...too stretchy, and bunches up.

Be careful mixing fabrics that are drastically different...differences in washing needs will most likely result in shreaded fabric ( I know someone that happened to!!).

If you want it to LAST and be easy to wash, use cotton. No messing around!!

you could make a crazy quilt ,ive seem some that use all type,s of fabrics togather in a crazy quilt anything goes

Dont use the family cat. They hate it. And the blanket squiggles non stop and is hard to get to lay straight. I dont mix my fabrics because they wash differently? some might stretch out over time some will shrink, some need no heat, some are ok with heat .. I would use the non cottons for things like crafts, wall quilts, etc. I also however HATE using stretchy fabric (not good with it) and worse yet.. satins. or velvets. I love love love satin and velvet however I hate sewing with it. It MOVES!

I only use 100% cotton.

I've saved this links and refer to them when I need to "refresh" my senior memory:

To know more about burn tests, see:

http://quilting.about.com/od/fabrice.../burn_test.htm

http://www.lindrix.com/fabcontent.html

http://www.fabrics.net/fabricsr.asp

http://www.fabriclink.com/University/BurnTest.cfm

HTH

PatB

I've used real thin fabric - first I used an iron on interfacing to stabilize the fabric. It works great.

Darren, I once made a corduroy crazy quilt (hey, it was the 70's!), used cotton fabric for the binding and the backing, embroidered all over it. It was one of Mom's favorite quilts and she used to wash it in the machine and line dried it! If you do not want to invest in fusible backing, you might want to try backing the thinner pieces of fabric with muslin. Just stitch the two pieces together and sew it as you would one piece of fabric...

Speaking of faux suede, I've heard that this fabric is excellent for raw edge applique...does not frey or ravel and easy to work with. I've not tried it but I have a collection of faux suede that I purchased from eBay off and on for a year or so.