Stitchnripper

I saw a quilt in a quilt shop that has since gone out of business before selling me the pattern they were going to make up - quilt was made of different squares/rectangles of men's suiting fabric interspersed with decorator fabric, some with a shine, some with a texture. It didn't have batting but the back was a kind of nubby fabric. She quilted it with decorative stitches in different colored threads down the middle or to the sides of some of the blocks. For one rectangular block she would quilt down it's length with one color thread and one stitch. Then for square, another placement and another color thread and another stitch. It was really beautiful. Someone gave me some men's suiting fabric samples and I have been collecting remnants of decorator fabric and that is on my list. I will experiment with how to join the blocks. My plan would be to have it dry cleaned because it probably won't get much use down here!!

clsurz

[QUOTE=Highmtn;5048856
I've been told by a local gal who loves to do felted wool projects to wash and dry the wool prior to cutting or it will be a quilt that has to be dry cleaned. So I'm going to wash it and back it with a veeeeeery light interfacing. She told me wool tends to ravel easily so this feather light interfacing is supposed to keep the edges from misbehaving, but... I still want to really pick people's brains who've made 100% wool quilts.
Thanks in advance!

♥[/QUOTE]

The lady is correct! I use a felting machine to do small projects and if I were to do a quilt as you say you want to do you should wash and dry the wool for shrinkage before attempting a quilt.

Making a wool quilt is not something I've ever considered since I live in the deep south where our summers are 110+ at times and winters seldom get below 30 degrees and that is just for a few days.

This is something that would be challanging for sure and would be fun to figure out and make.

I'm curious to see what others have to say about it?

ckcowl

i pretty much always have wool projects going ---i love working with wool!
when you disassemble your clothing and wash it---wash it in hot water- with detergent- a regular cycle===rinse in cold water =then dry in a hot dryer---it will not ravel when you work with it- and you will not need an interfacing----i've made very large wool quilts and have never (lined) a single piece of wool- and have never had one ravel or fray.
i do not understand how you can get more usable wool from a pair of pants then from a jacket- since with a jacket you get a very very large piece from the back---and the sleeves are generally wider than pant legs===i use both but have always thought the jackets were by far the better deal...i will have to (study this) a bit...i'm attaching a picture of one of my wool quilts---also starting a new thread with some of my (in the works) wool blocks for everyone to see
once i started working with wool i was HOOKED! it is my favorite fabric!

clsurz

OH that is a beautiful quilt for sure.

Highmtn

clsurz...
Thanks for your pointers too!!

ckcowl....
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMGGGGGGGGOODNE S!!! That is breath taking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We cut up 11 wool jackets this afternoon, and what I meant was the jackets we cut into various sections/pieces. The one giant pair of wood slacks I cut up made LARGE clean pieces (lots of blocks from those). On the suit coats we had to cut a lot of interfacings away and it looked like less usable wool, but I could be wrong. My wool quilt will not come CLOSE to your wool quilt!!

Hairquilt
Ah yes...the itchy old army green army blankets...lol I remember them well! Ours also had holes in them.


Hi Dunster!
Thanks for the link. I checked it out.. WOW.. there were some amazing examples of "fulled wool" crazy quilts that knocked my socks off! Mostly I just Googled "wool quilts" and got some very simple ideas from there. I love a heavy blanket...and this just intrigues the heck out of me...hehe

I spent 4 hours this afternoon cuttting up wool suits with my local quilting partner in crime. OMG.. her room was just a disaster...we had to vacuume when we were done! There was wool fluff everywhere.

For SURE I am washing it first, and it was good to hear that I don't HAVE to put interface on all of it. I washed my first batch in warm water, but dried it in a hot dryer. I guess I should rewash it in hot H2O.

But...we ended up with a lot of nice wool sections to work with.

Off to make dinner... have a wonderful evening all!

bjg

I've been given a fabulous collection of silk ties and I need advice on how to proceed. Would appreciate any and all.

AZ Jane

@ Highmtn, love your Boxer. I was thinking you should wash the suits before you cut apart, less unraveling????

ckcowl

for working with silks you do need an interfacing- it really depends on what you plan to do with them-how you proceed---you can take apart the seam down the back- remove the interfacing- refold them and use for dresden plate blocks---you can open them up- (there is alot of fabric in a tie) and cut them up to use in other ways---but a lightweight fusable interfacing will make everything easier- be sure to use the silk setting on the iron- i actually put my silk ties into a mesh laundry bag & washed as normal- they came out nice & clean- no ill effects. there are many patterns for ties---including using them for crazy quilting.

ckcowl

i've been working with recycled wools for many many years and have tried many techniques---it really is much easier---better to (de-construct) before washing- you need to remove all of the linings/interfacings-if you wash first all kinds of *stuff*(lint, grit, stuff) is still there after washing then when you do take them apart & you have to rewash them- it saves steps to remove all buttons, zippers, interfacings, linings-then wash= it also helps get rid of creases in the wools-that may stay if still constructed. i simply cut all of the seams right off- and toss the pieces into a mesh bag if they are small- toss them into the washer as is if they are fairly large-

oh and the ones that you washed in warm water----cut a (snippet) off a corner- if it doesn't fray you do not need to rewash- the hot dryer was enough---agitation - small amount of detergent- cold rinse & hot dryer usually does enough- using hot water speeds up the process some. i actually (generally heat water in my tea kettle & add it a number of times- restarting the agitation over & over and wash my wools for about 30-45 minutes- then cold rinse & into the dryer---experiment as you become more comfortable with working with your wools & you will find what works for you-giving you the exact feeling wools you want to work with---you can also put a number of different tweeds, weaves of wools and (over dye them) to make a (color family)

sweetana3

Dont throw away the interfaced parts. That part makes great applique wool for decoration or other projects. I only get jackets with no seams in back and in great colors. Otherwise, I stick to skirts and pants. Right now I have collected about 12 boxes of washed pieces from recycled clothing to use in my hooked rugs. The parts will be an appliqued wall hanging. See the book, Wool Crazy.