Originally Posted by
KLauren
"One thing to keep in mind is that even within a designer's fabric collection, the fabric can feel different for the different prints. You will notice how drastic this is if you buy a precut like a jelly roll. One fabric in the collection will be really stretchy, thin, and have a lose weave. Another one will be thick and sturdy. So you cannot even go by brand, designer, or collection."
That's really interesting! I wonder what makes the prints so different from each-other within the same designers collection of the same manufacturer. You would think that if a designer or manufacturer used the same type of fabric, at least a collection should be consistent. But you're saying that it's as if a different fabric is used even within a collection?
Yes, I am saying that I have bought jelly rolls where one or more of the fabrics had a different feel than the others. For example, Lotta Jansdotter's Mormor collection which is manufactured by Windham Fabrics. The fabrics that are printed on a white background are thinner and stretchier than the fabrics that have colored background. They felt different in my hand and they behaved different in an assembled quilt block. The extra stretch that the white fabric had in them caused some wonkiness in my blocks. If I had more of the white fabrics in a block, then the block ended up larger. My guess is that it was the difference between using a bleached cotton vs. a nonbleached cotton. It likely has to do with the printing process. Certain designs probably require particular weaves of the fabric.
The take away is that if you only want to use fabrics that feel top quality, you will have to lay your hands on each piece in a collection to see if it feels the same. You cannot assume that they used the exact same cotton for each print in the collection. To expound on that point even further, you cannot assume that a manufacturer uses the exact same quality of cotton in all of its fabric lines. They also might use a slightly different weave depending on if it is a solid, print, grunge, blender, shade, and so forth. I'm sure that there are some manufacturers that use the same quality and weave for all of their fabrics. But there are definitely some that don't.
That is just my firsthand experience. Hopefully, there is someone with more expertise that can shed some light on this topic.
Since this is for your mother, she will love whatever you make her. Art Gallery Fabrics is lovely fabric. If you like it, and you think your mother will like it, then go ahead and use it in her quilt. It will turn out beautiful. Just as important as quality fabric is quality thread and batting. Have you decided on those items?