Originally Posted by
QuiltE
Linen tea towels are a looser weave than quilting cottons and shrink when washed.
Will pre-washing tighten them up enough?
Yes, a bit - and it will fluff up the fibers to also fill the empty spaces in the weave.
Will the embroidery threads/colours run?
Possibly, but maybe not - the old floss makers touted their colorfastness. Don't use bleach on them and if the embroidery is done in silk thread, don't use OxyClean, either.
Once the quilt blocks are cut, should a zig-zag edge stitch be done?
You could do that or serge the edges - linen will fray quite badly on unfinished edges.
Is the looseness conquered, or would an iron-on stabilizer be necessary?
I personally wouldn't use a fusible stabilizer unless absolutely necessary. The woven fusibles will shrink terribly when laundered and the non-woven is polyester, so it would defeat the breathability in a project.
If the weave is still very loose after laundering, I would face it with a pre-shrunk white muslin or quilting cotton - sewn to the edges within the seam allowance, possibly or glue basted with an Elmer's School Glue purple glue stick.
Linen tends to be wrinkly ... how will that factor into a quilt for the long term?
It softens in laundering and use and doesn't wrinkle so badly after a while - one of my favorite nightgowns used to be of lightweight white linen - so soft and cool!
With the loose and wrinkly factor in mind ... should one Best Press (or starch) like crazy before starting?
I made large and small linens for my church for years - I starched the heck out of the pre-shrunk linen before I cut or hemmed the church linens.
Linen has a mind of its own but you can starch it (almost) into submission.
For the large altar linens (54"x 120" or more) I actually resorted to making my own cooked laundry starch and squishing it through the washed and dried linen, letting it dry, then steaming it as flat and square as I could make it.
I used the drawn thread method to find the actual crosswise grain for squaring.
One tip - linen feels very cool to the touch - even when it's bone dry. Don't keep ironing it just because it feels cool and possibly damp. Iron it just until it's flat and smooth enough to cut and sew accurately.
Hope that helps - I love linen, but I have shed a few tears when working with it.
I learned little tricks for managing it along the way.