jaciqltznok-Where would you get French Fuse? What is it? The silk thread isn't a problem, I know of a couple places to get it, but have never heard of the French Fuse.

What kind of batting would you use?

Certainly you can use silk! Did you ever see an old crazy quilt? They had everything you could imagine in them for "fancy" fabrics, cigarette silks, velvets, brocades, taffetas, neckties, satins, wedding laces, etc. etc. The silk won't wear in a quilt that gets a lot of use, but they are surely gorgeous to be used as wall quilts, or for decorating. Unless your silk is very thin you wouldn't need to stabilize it.

Do you think I really need silk thread on this heavier fabric? I have never seen an old crazy quilt, but, I'm betting it wasn't sewn with silk thread.

Silk is a natural fiber so it can be washed but many of the light weight solid color silk fabrics will water spot if you are not careful to get the fabric evenly wet and are also in need of being treated as delicate. Hence the need for hand washing.

The heavier silks used as suiting or as drapery fabric are not as difficult to care for and are very easy to work with.

I don't know about all types of silk, especially embroidered silk, but I have washed plain silk with good results. Shampoo is the soap of choice for silk and, of course, hand washing. For thin silk, it's a good idea to iron while it is still damp; not sure about thicker silks.

If you Google silk fabrics, you should be able to find some authoritative information on washing.

I think the "no wash" fear comes from clothing made out of silk that has not been pre-washed. In that case, they say to not wash for fear the silk will shrink.

Silk makes gorgeous quilts. The only thing is I would use something other than silk for the backing so it does not slip and slide all over the place.

Check out HelenFujiki.com She is an amazing quilt artist from Toronto, Ontario. She's made many quilts from old kimonos that she's bought at markets in Japan. Her quilts are "blow you away" awesome!

There is a wonderful silk quilt in the Shelburn Vt museum of small flying geese. There is a pattern.
Would think you need to think about the weight of the silk and try to keep it all about the same weight. You shold be able to make many patterns. Just have to repsect the nature of the fabric.

The fabrics in "old" crazy quilts were sewn onto another piece of fabric as opposed to being pieced.
I am also glad that you started this topic because I have recently received a lot of silk fabrics and am wanting to make quilts from it.
I look forward to the replies you receive.

If it is thin, you can back it with a muslin foundation.

I would sew with a cotton thread or other natural fiber so the thread doesn't cut the silk.