Cathedral Window backing fabric
 

My mom has wanted to make a cw quilt for quite some time now and the only thing stopping her is she doesn't know what kind of fabric to use because she doesn't want to use muslin (she says it wears to quickly and if she's going to make one it's going to last forever) and she wants it to be black. I was wondering if she could use a broadcloth like this one (https://www.fabric.com/buy/bcr-002/c...oadcloth-black). The final quilt will be big enough for her full sized bed which amounts to 19 yards which is why she's shying away from regular quilting cotton. If cotton broadcloth won't work, any other suggestions?

Personally I would be leery of using fabric that inexpensive. I made a small one out of muslin -- it looked really nice and I think will wear just fine. It amazes me how much fabric that quilt takes but they are beautiful! Black would look nice with brights.

Not all muslins are created equal, a good-quality muslin will work just as well as quilting cotton. However, if she wants black and insists on not using muslin, you should look at Kaufman Kona or Moda Bella. Both are good quality cottons and usually run about $7/yard.

I am using a vast array of white on white fabrics, so I didn't have to settle on one large investment. I started with what I had, then when I visit quilt shops I pick up fat quarters of ones they have that catch my eye. (Or yards if I know I will want it for other projects) there are some wonderful good quality muslins on the market too, and muslin dyes well , she could dye her own (although a good black is one of the harder ones to achieve). Kona black is one of the best for not fading and standing the test of time

I agree with Peckish - when I did my pillow I felt that I wanted something other than muslin - I used Kona White.

So I hope this isn't a silly question, but if I were to buy my mom say 1/3 of the yardage she would need of kona black for Christmas this year then buy another 1/3 for say mother's day and the last 1/3 for Christmas next year (she won't finish it that fast), the black would all be the same black right? I've worked with yarn before and you need to watch the dye lot number.

I think Kona colors are pretty consistent from bolt to bolt. It would be a bummer if for some crazy reason you could not find it or get it when you wanted to purchase it. I might be tempted to purchase it all tog if you could and then give it to her in thirds. That way you would be positive that it would match and that you have it.......Just my thoughts.

You do need to be careful of dye lots with fabric. Making it with black would be very nice.

I hope your mother has great eyes! Working with black can be challenging for some of us.

I checked out the link provided in the original post. CW is ***so*** much work, I would not risk using such an inexpensive, no-name broadcloth. Without actually trying it out, you have no idea what its actual color is (there are washed-out looking blacks), how much color it will retain after washing (some blacks lose depth), how it will shrink (non-brand-name cottons can have weird shrinking and wrinkling characteristics), how it will wear, etc. For a CW quilt, you want reasonably high-quality fabric. There are high-quality muslins on the market, but they do not come in black. All blacks you will find will be a broadcloth weave. I don't know why this is, but it is what I have found.

There is no guarantee with any brand that blacks (or any other color) purchased at different times will match exactly. Often they will vary somewhat in tone and color. I would definitely purchase all of the backing fabric at the same time, and over-buy in case there are some mistakes before the quilt is finished.

I agree with using a name-brand black.

Michael Miller Jet Black is my favorite black because it is deeper and darker than other blacks and it has a very nice hand. https://www.fabric.com/buy/ej-764/mi...ller-jet-black When compared side-by-side with other blacks, MM JB always wins.

Kaufman Kona tends to have a "meatier" hand than I like for quilts. That is, if you work with it, it feels thicker and heavier than other brand solids. Personally, I don't like it, but it may be exactly what your mother is looking for. The hand of Moda Bella is more like other good quality quilting fabrics but, as I said, I prefer the Michael Miller Jet Black for its deep color.

Is your mother planning to make this quilt by hand or by machine? Some of the above fabrics are probably easier to work with by hand than others. What you might want to do is buy small amounts of several blacks for your mother to try out, then let her decide which one she wants to use.

If you have a JoAnn's in your area, you might see about buying a whole bolt and using one of their 40 or 50% coupons. Hobby Lobby in my area always has the Kona cotton on sale for 30% off, so I end up paying around $5.70 a yard.

The reason I was thinking of buying it in sections was because at the moment, working $100+ for fabric in to either of our budgets isn't going to work so well. And since she's been talking about doing one of these for the last 10 years at least, I thought if I gave it as a gift, she might do it.

I know she's planning on sewing it by hand and using a black thread to sew the blocks together. I think she was thinking of sewing the windows with black too, but I have some hand quilting thread from Coats & Clark in jewel variegated which I think would look really neat, especially on the back. And as for her eyes, she just got bifocals last winter, maybe a needle threader would be appreciated as well :)

Another option would be to use different black fabrics that have a little bit of texture (similar to others who have used different white-on-white fabrics). That way you would not have to buy all the fabric at once, because there would be no expectation of it matching, and you could buy some whenever you see it on sale.

Strongly agree!! :mad:

I agree with this also. I have not had the opportunity to use MMJB, which is why I forgot to mention it in my earlier post. But I know a LOT of quilters that love it, so I agree with Prism, it's definitely worth checking out.

You might check around and see if you can buy a whole bolt. I know every once in a while Fabric Depot (www.fabricdepot.com) sells bolts and half-bolts of Kona in white, red, and black at a very good sale price. I think bolts usually come 15 or 18 yards (someone help me here?), although I was able to purchase a 22-yard bolt of PFD (prepared for dyeing) muslin.

I've also thought over the years I'd like to do one of these with black fabric! uses sooo much fabric though. I've used kona black and in one swap I can tell the blacks were different - each person swore they used that color but some looked brownish next to other blocks and someone said they dye over other colors for the black..not sure if that's true but seems like the stuff frayed - not sure how it would be to handsew the windows. I love moda marble's jet black - dimples (if they still make that line) had a nice dark black but it frayed pretty badly when I was strip piecing and paper piecing - like the fabric though.