Has anyone done a brocate quilt? I have fat quarters of brocade material & I'm not quite sure what to do with them. Any suggestions?

Welcome to the board from Southern California!!!!!
I nave never made one out of brocade. Maybe someone else on here has!

maybe a crazy quilt???

It would be nice and warm :D:D:D

We have a quilt made from heavy brocade patches on the front, midweight denim on the back, no batting; my husband's uncle made it for us. It's heavy and warm and we love it, but I'd buy a couple of heavy-duty needles before piecing!

I am collecting shiney and sparkley fabric for a crazy quilt. With brocades, I get twice as much because both sides are different. -- as for some kind of block pattern and borders, I can only imagine a brocade quilt would be beautiful.

Welcome from Ireland

Welcome from Iowa. How renaissance like that would be (am a big fan of renaissance stuff). Not made a quilt with brocade, but hope someone can enlighten us here on feasibility. It would be beautiful IMHO.

I decided to do the 10 minute square. Boy, cutting the material is a big undertaking because they fray so much! Also aligning the edges with pins & taking them from the table to my sewing machine is a pain. so what I did was run the edges thru the candle flame to prevent fraying. The result is ok, but pretty bulky. will post pics soon. I've finished 9 squares but cannot decide what to use for backing. any suggestions? should i also use batting in the middle?

If you're considering using brocade for a quilt that is intended for actual use, consider whether there are cats or dogs in the home that might get at it--brocade shreds easily under a cat's kneading claws where a cotton quilt would stand up for years.

You can seal the edges of brocade with a fray stopper (basically just crazy glue--you can use standard crazy glue, too). But sometimes that leaves sharp, hard edges (like the bulkiness mentioned above) if you use too much, so if you don't have a lot of experience working with brocade (and even if you do), you might want to consider running an overlock (or zigzag, if your machine doesn't do overlock) stitch along the edge of each piece as soon as you're finished cutting it--it takes a lot more work, but it results in a softer finished product--you can never wash out burnt or glued edges.

Quilting with Brocade
 

Just came across this site today & was interested in your question & possible answers.
I am in the same boat, my son brought me 4 yards of different colors of oriental brocade from China several years ago & I don't know what to do with it -- I asked for 'quilt frabrics from China'. A quilt artist whose pattern I was going to try suggested because it frays so much I might consider backing it with an ultra lightweight fusible interfacing..and use a microtec or very sharp needle to hopefully prevent the pulling that could show. I may try a sample of a part of her patterrn - paper piecing, but not sure how it will press out either.

Will watch for any further replies.

wilmajns

Can you choose a pattern where you could possibly draw a grid on the fabric and then serge the pieces off, rather than cutting with scissors or rotary cutter?

I would LOVE to make a crazy quilt with satins and velvets and brocades, but the serger will be in heavy use if I ever get around to it. Flannel too - if I ever make another flannel quilt, I will serge the pieces instead of cutting them.

I want to do a quilt out of brocade. I was thinking large patches and backed with a light fusible interfacing. and maybe even some velvety fabrics mixed in...

Have brocades as part of my future crazy quilt collection, with silk and velvet and organza and embellishments and beads and ribbons and lace and......

I think a dresden plate would be gorgeous out of brocades. I'll have to try that with my stash of brocades.

I just saw fray blocker in Houston for sealing edges. Supposed to be softer and less stiff than fray check. Brocade would be great on a crazy quilt. Show us when you are done. Good luck.

I made a queen sized quilt from decorator fabrics (very similar to brocade) and it was beautiful. The fabrics had a tendency to fray badly, so I starched heavy and that helped a bit. I used the braided cording instead of binding and it was the perfect finish to an awesome quilt (recipient loves it). It was heavy and warm....just the way I like em!