Originally Posted by
Buckeye Rose
My daughter and friend were talking about me making quilts, and the friend offered to give me a whole bunch of fabric. My daughter, who isn't a sewer at all and couldn't tell you what is quilting cottons, corduroy or fleece, said "sure". I picked it up yesterday and there are 3 boxes and 1 huge garbage bag of fabrics. Lots of yardage, a couple of bolts, and smaller pieces, and a wide variety of fabrics - crushed velvet to stretch terry, denim, dressy pants fabric, and about 10 yards of a beautiful navy/cream flowery print that I think has rayon in it. It will take me days to get it all sorted and then washed. What am I going to do with all that fabric that really isn't suitable for a quilt? Some of it still has tags and receipts dating back to 1994! I know rayon will shrink if washed/dried.....is it quiltable? I just can't toss it out.....well maybe the fake fur.....LOL. I can see lots of utility quilts and donation quilts in my future!
Wow, what a great gift! Granted, rayon can shrink dramatically (talking size 20 to doll sized in 60 seconds), but not all rayon shrinks dramatically. I wash silk and rayon before I sew with them and the shrinkage rate can really vary. Test some of these fabrics, and/or resign yourself to maximum shrinkage, and quilt with what is left. A good pressing after a hot water wash and you could be amazed.