Originally Posted by Marquilt
I tried printing out something today on the inkjet fabric I got from EQ some time ago. The color reproduction was great, and when I soaked it in water as instructed, I was happy to find that there was no particular color loss.
But the fabric itself is so stiff! I had figured on machine quilting the piece in which I intend to use it, but still, no one could hand quilt through this stuff without making a mess of it, and it's so stiff that the usual safety pin basting method creates puckers, and it seems to retain even tiny holes, so I have to wonder what machine quilting is going to do to it. Do any of you know some way to soften this stuff up?
I have the "regular cotton inkjet" fabric (the cheapest stuff *g*), which has a thread count of 200. The two "premium" choices are 240 and 283. Does that mean they're even stiffer?
http://www.electricquilt.com/Shop/Printing/Fabric.asp
If you've used this in your own work, what needle and thread sizes did you use to machine quilt on it? Are there other fabric choices out there for inkjet printing that have a softer hand?
Did you remove the paper backing? I've used everything except printed treasures brand I think and the problems I had had to do with forgetting to remove the paper backing that was there to stabilize the fabric for printing. I use regular fabric and BubbleJet 2000 since I discovered it years ago at the Sew Expo in Puyallup at the HP Booth.