The 'crinkly' look
 

Hello! I have recently completed my first quilt and have just joined the quilting board :)

I was wondering about the crinkly look. I really love it and want more of it! My quilt did crinkle a bit, but I was wondering what else I could do to encourage more crinkliness in future quilts.

Are there battings out there that crinkle more than others? I know to avoid poly, but out of the cotton ones, is there a make that crinkles more? I used Sew Simple Super Soft Cotton. As for what you do after the quilt is finished, how much of an impact does that have? I machine washed my quilt on the delicate cycle of my front loader. I don't own a tumbler anymore, so I then draped it over a hot radiator - is that a good substitute or should I take it to the launderette?

And in terms of the quilting itself, does quilting closer together give more crinkles, or does it not matter?

Sorry lots of questions!

Not sure about your question, but I wanted to welcome you to the board from Northern California. Would love to see a picture of your quilt. We all like show and tell. BrendaK

I'm wondering if you might have better luck getting crinkles if you put the quilt in the dryer - or tumbler, as you called it. :) Maybe take it to the launderette.

Thank you! Here's my quilt, avery simple pattern, perfect for a beginner, I'd say! I've already started my second, which demands more precise piecing, so cross your fingers for me!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]416044[/ATTACH]

Yes, I can try! And I'm hoping to be able to get one soon. My SO doesn't want to, but I'm working hard to convince him!

In future quilts if you use unwashed flannel on the back you will achieve crinkling after you wash it due to difference in shrinkage of front fabric to back fabric. Anyway, that is my experience.

So, is that flannel as well as batting? Thanks for your reply :)

Love the modern look of your quilt. You have a great eye for combining patterns and colors!

my experience is that it's the shrinkage that makes it wrinkly. I us only 100% cotton, quilt store quality fabrics and do NOT prewash the fabric or the batting. For batting I use either warm and natural or another 100% cotton batting or a batting that is no less than 80% cotton. I DO dry my quilts in the dryer since the heat adds to the wrinkly nature. The danger in not pre-washing is that some fabrics may bleed...but since I limit myself to quilt store quality fabrics I've never had a problem with bleeding tho others say they have. I also use lots of reds and purples and deep colors so either I'm really lucky or I shop at the right stores!

I think that more quilting reduces the amount of wrinkling since it binds the three layers together but I've never done a study on it.

Thanks for your reply! I did not pre-wash my fabrics for that very reason and I would only ever buy quilting fabric, probably. I just popped some colour catchers in the machine when I washed it and it all came out fine. My second quilt is mostly white with some super bright red and blue, but I'm using Kona Cotton Solids, which I hope will be ok!

Welcome and I love your quilt and fabric choices. I use warm and natural and it really depends on how much quilting I do as to how "crinkly" it turns out.

Thank you! I used two collections by the same designer (Lotta Jandotter) and I think it worked well. I can't take full credit, because this was inspired by another quilt I saw, by the very wonderful Red Pepper Quilts.

Thank you! So, is what you're saying that quilting closer together will produce a more crinkly look?

I actually think it's the batting that makes the most difference. don't know what's available in the UK, there are lots of members who live there and hopefully someone will chime in with a cotton batting (wadding?) that will shrink a bit and is available there.
I also have a theory that if you pre wash (pre shrink) your fabric and don't shrink your batting you get more wrinkles. You quilt the fabric to the batting which holds it in place. The batting shrinks, but not the fabric which has to bunch up a bit to accomodate the smaller batting. If your fabric also shrinks because you didn't pre wash, it will shrink at about the same rate as the batt, resulting in a smoother quilt. That's my theory anyway ;-)
It's sort of trial and error. Try different battings, flannel pre wash/don't, tumble dry vs. air dry etc. eventually you will come up with a combo that you like.

Any cotton fabrics have the possibility of being a bleeder. I prewash all fabrics to eliminate any questions of bleeders and if I find one, I pretreat with Retayne....that problem is then solved. I find that using a batting of mostly cotton is what makes the crinkly look...some cotton battings will shrink 3-5%, some more. Combine that shrinkage with a closer quilting and you get the desired look. The quilting secures the layers together, then washing/drying shrinks the batting and pulls the fabric creating those little puckers and that beautiful finish that most of us love!

Beautiful quilt. My quilts crinkle enough to suit me. I prewash all my fabrics. I wash and dry my quilts as soon as I finish sewing the binding on. I always use my dryer (tumbler).
Welcome to the board from Missouri.

Oh, that makes total sense, thank you!

oh sorry, I meant to ask: what is your preferred batting? We seem to get a lot of American batting here, so it's possible that I can find your favourite and give it a try.

I've only used warm & natural (or white) batting with pre-washed fabrics. I get plenty of crinkles, I think! I wash my quilts in the machine on a regular cycle and dry in the dryer. Not sure that quilting distance makes that much difference but other, more experienced quilters will guide you on that. I've done both lots and minimal quilting and don't seem to notice much difference in the crinkle. I think it's really the dryer that helps with that look.

oh that is so cute!!! but yes, the tumbler/dryer heat is what will help crinkle it a bit.

Oh dear, I've just realised that replies are general replies rather than to a person, so my questions/comments are not going to the right people! Sorry! Must get used to this board!

I'm a new quilter too so I have no advice at all. I just wanted to tell you that I love your quilt!

Welcome. You are going to love your quilting journey. I started in 07 and have learned so much. This QB is the place to learn and be inspired. I love crinkly quilts too and doing a meander stitch seems to help with that. The meander looks much like a puzzle in size of shapes I create in free motion. We look forward to seeing your next project. Enjoy.

I'd like to add that doing samples maybe small squares with varying procedures and products may give good test results.

100 % cotton batting, 100 % cotton fabric, do not prewash. Quilt it to death! Wash and dry, you should have crinkles!

Crinkles are a result of the batting shrinking more than the top fabric. So first, prewash the top fabric and dry in dryer to get the most shrinkage before it's pieced and quilted. Then get batting with the most shrinkage percentage. The % shrinkage is listed on the label of the batting. http://battylady.com/batting_information.php This link has information on many of the batts. Go to the list of batts, then open the box of specifics on each batt.

Wonderful quilt, if you can get all of your seams to meet, you are ready for anything. Even in what appears simple you still have to do it accurately and you did. Wonderful!

My favorite "crinkly" batting is Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon cotton. It is a batting that was used for decades in this country (U.S., not U.K.!), so many of the crinkly vintage quilts you see were made with this batting. In the past it was usually hand quilted, but it machine quilts just fine. Quilting lines need to be no more than 2" apart because there is no scrim and it is not needlepunched. This batting gets softer with every washing, which is one of the reasons I love it. It is harder to find these days (I usually have to go online to purchase) because so many people are into the needlepunched and scrim types of batting that allow quilting lines to be far apart.

In my opinion you are taking a risk washing a new quilt with un-prewashed fabric in a front-loading domestic machine. If you ever have a fabric that bleeds, a few color catchers will not be enough to absorb all the dye. I have a front-loader at home, so I take my quilts to the laundromat for their first washing. I still prefer the front-loader because it is so much kinder to the fabrics, but the laundromat front-loaders use enough water to dilute any dye bleeds thoroughly. I also use Synthrapol in that first wash as it prevents free floating dye particles from settling into the wrong fabrics. Synthrapol requires hot water, and the hot water helps shrink the batting. I get additional shrinkage from drying in the tumbler dryer at the laundromat, as the dryer heat also helps shrink the batting and fabrics.

Edit: I should add that I do not normally preshrink fabrics I use in quilts. I let all of the fabrics shrink together with the batting in that first wash and dry.

Look at the quilts done by Weeks Ringle. They are deliciously crinckley. She pre washes her fabrics and uses cotton batting. Quilting closer together will also help. The bigger the gap between quilting the less crinckley the quilt will get. I prewash nothing and I still get quilte a bit of crincle due to the density of quilting. Meandering/stippling, bananas, flowers and pebbles will produce excellent crincling. Make sure not to do micro stippling because it will depress your batting and make your quilt too stiff. I use whichever batting is the cheapest, either Pellon or Warm and Natural/White. I wash my quilts on cotton setting, with warm water and spin them on medium high setting. I dry them in the drier on Cotton setting. I used to have a drier when I lived in Italy and European driers are different than American driers. Our driers are vented to the outside, European driers have condensers, so make sure to empty the accumulated water at least once when drying your quilt to reduce the level of moisture in the drum. If you can find an American style drier that vents to the outside, jump on it. It works much better and the drying time is much shorter. Good luck!

I had a friend use bamboo batting and it shrank alot!! Really a lot more than she had even anticipated...

Please don't trust Kona so blindly, you might be sorry. If I were you I would test
every piece of fabric specially when putting them with white.

I wasn't very clear. I have used unwashed cotton fabric for the top and either poly or cotton batting and then unwashed flannel on the bottom. Because the flannel is usually looser woven when it is washed and dried I have had a lot more crinkles than when I use cotton fabrics top and bottom One of my DIL's loves the look. The other DIL, alas, buys high dollar comforters from specialty stores. Interestingly her daughter likes quilts.. sigh...

I agree with all this. If you want a heavier quilt, use Warm and Natural 100% cotton. I like my quilts a little lighter weight so I use Mountain Mist Cream Rose 100% cotton (I buy at JoAnn's) or Hobbs 100% cotton. Although, account for the shrikage when you make your quilt so that you make it bigger so that when it shrinks, it will be the size you want. I just made two different quilts and used these two different battings to "test" them because I also really like the old fashioned crinkled look. Both brands of these battings both said shrinkage would be 3-5% but when I washed them in warm water and dried them dry, they actually shranki about 10%. Therefore, the end results were that I had quilts that were smaller than I expected them to be after I washed and dried them. Good Luck.

I think if you do the quilting close together, it crinkles. At least mine did. I was told that the closer the quilting the more it crinkles.

Well come to the board......a dryer( tumbler.. as an American .. I love that term) will definitely help the crinkle factor

LOL, lots of advice here, but I think you get the most shrinkage (crinkling) when the quilt is dried in a dryer (tumbler) at the launderette. It is the heat shrinking everything that makes the difference. You could always wash and dry again to see if it makes enough difference.

I think I'm gonna start saying tumbler. It's more fun. lol

Thank you all very much for your words of wisdom! I really appreciate every single piece of advice. Now, I'm wondering about this new quilt top I'm working on. The one out of Kona. Should I wash the finished top before I quilt it? Or will it be a nightmare of frays? I've done all the cutting, so it's too late to wash it before cutting and I'm part way through the piecing.

Oh, and I love the idea I might have started a new trend and gotten everyone in the US to say tumbler! ;)

Welcome to the QB - Looks like you're getting lots of opinions....so I'll just keep mine! Hahaha!

Nan

Beautiful quilt (for your first, I am impressed!) Welcome from PA.