Hi All!
My grandmother worked for many years in fabric showroom. When she retired and the showroom closed, she made off with bags of fabric samples-- the sneaky minx! She's in full-time care now and I came across a bag of beautiful upholstery silk samples when we packed up the house. I am hoping to make a quilt with them, but I am already faced with a number of questions.
Below is a quick pic of the fabrics I am dealing with. Some are only two or three swatches, but there are many of the dark silk with colored squares and the plaids.
Sentimentally, the first thing that came to mind was a lone star quilt. She gave me a lone star when I was a baby that had been passed down for years, but I was a rough kid and its falling apart now. I don't know if I have the skill yet to manage all these stripes and plaids, along with the warp and weft, while managing diamond pieces. I'm not even sure these fabrics would look nice as a lone star, I can't imagine it-- but I am getting bored with bricks and squares and would like a challenge.
Any suggestions?
I read a list of suggestions on
Cherry House Quilts for dealing with silk. Pinking shears, larger seam allowance, etc. Even here is this forum people suggest using a fusible backing to stabilize the fabric. This fabric is thin, but it is stiff upholstery fabric, not silky-silk. I am afraid that backing it will make it too stiff to ever be comfortable.
Fusible-back on already-stiff silk?
Lastly, it is all marked dry-clean only.
Do I risk a quick hand-wash before going at it? Or do I just consider the finished quilt dry-clean only?
Any ideas or thoughts are greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance
-Em