I made a Christian D9P for my dear mother-in-law (86). I put the entire quilt together and just did tying with yarn. It turned out beautiful, until I washed it. I am so P.O'ed now. The fabric that is kinda tanish/yellowish with the big cross's on it... frayed in several different spots.. JUST the area with that fabric in it. The spots where there are seams with the different fabric... all is okay. So now what can I do? She loves her quilt...I did also..until I washed it. At first I saw one small spot, so I used fabric glue on that... but...dang..now I found many spots..I would have to call it MY GLUE QUILT. It measures 108 x 108. I am so mad, I could spit fire..

Sounds like that fabric is a looser weave than the rest. I know that you tied it, but I would consider hand or machine quilting just those blocks, to reinforce the seams. You could also frame the blocks with sew on or iron on bias tape.

So sorry this happened, I wish I had an answer for you. Hopefully someone here will. BTW the quilt looks beautiful in the picture. :cry:

Thats a shame. Could you applique over those areas?

I would have to do the entire quilt..as it is not just the huge blocks in the middle..but also the little squares in between the bigger dark brown ones also..

Can you afford to send it to a LA?

Have you figured out WHY this has happened?

If you are willing to share with us what you think may be the cause(s), it may save some of us a lot of aggravation and disappointment.

I'm sorry this happened to your quilt. I've never had fabric fray after washing. Is there a way to determine if fabric will fray before using it in a quilt?

Now the backing and batting would be to small now.. So it would cost even more..to buy new backing and batting..plus to have it LA... so that option would be out, as I can not afford that..but I did think of it.. until I realized the batting and backing part.

Just curious. Did you wash the fabric before you cut it? We are always discussing the pros and cons of doing this.

I'm sorry this happened to your lovely gift of love. The only thing I can think of is, if you could have someone do a lot of embroidered crosses that you could cut out and applique to all the holes. So sorry!

So sorry. Wish you had pre washed the fabric.

I'm curious why you'd have holes in the fabric! Is it 100% cotton? Is it homespun cotton? Homespun is a looser weave than regular quilting cotton. I'd be tempted to take it back to the store and show them what happened! They probably won't do anything, but they need to know if it's a flaw in the fabric.

I'm so sorry this has happened. I'm not clear on the problem, did it come apart at the seams? As Bearisgray said could you explain. I have one of those "store bought" quilts, when I washed it, it came apart. My pets do get on the bed, so I use this one as a top cover. I taught myself how to FMQ on it and still have spots that come apart when washed, then I go back and FMQ some more on it. Just a thought.

Without seeing this piece up close:

My guesses:

Loosely woven fabric
Fabric may not have been 100% cotton
Very narrow seams
Uneven shrinkage when washed

Yes it is in the seam area.....but only on the one fabric also. I am to new to try to quilt it on my little machine my self. It is also to big for me to reach the middle of the quilt also.

Sorry, reading to fast this morning. It didn't fray on the seam line, but has holes in the fabric? Is this around the tie's? I think I would take out the ties and FMQ the whole thing.

What kind of machine do you have?

A brother..PC-420 PRW.. so just a small throat area machine.

Aw -- it unravels a lot then. Homespun fabric unravels a lot. If that's the case, take it apart and sew the seams with the tiniest stitch length your machine will make. That should help.....good luck!

Yes, I could see that being a problem, my newest machine is over 15 years, with larger throat space. Since money is a problem, is there anyone you know that has an older machine that feed dogs drop, you could borrow? I wish you were closer.

How much more work/effort are you willing to put into this?

I understand that you don't want to put much more money into it.

Go ahead and spit!

Did you wash your fabric before you started? If not, it's a
good example, unfortunately for you, but for the rest of us
to wash our fabric before we make our quilts. If you did
wash and iron the fabric before you started, I don't know
what to tell you except maybe remove the backing, since it
is tied, and the batting and go in to reinforce the seams.
Unfortunately, there is no quick solution. I've taken quilts
apart to replace fabric that I did not like. When I started, it
seemed like a major project, and it turned out to be less of a
chore than I thought. I'm sorry this happened, and whatever
solution you choose will be the right one.

I'm sorry this happened! That really stinks, especially after your MIL really likes her gift.

So sorry. Maybe you can add a satin stitch all around those areas. Or maybe a small strip of black around each block/seam that is a problem. If some of the seams did it with one washing the rest may fray with more washings. SO, you may want to reinforce all that fabric now and not have to worry about later.

So sorry this happened. I know it's discouraging. If you take it apart for whatever solution you find, you don't have to abandon the backing if it's a bit too small. Just add a border in a complementary color to the backing you already have.

So sorry this happened. I know it's discouraging. If you take it apart for whatever solution you find, you don't have to abandon the backing if it's a bit too small. Just add a border in a complementary color to the backing you already have.

I just want to give you my support in what ever way you choose to repair your beautiful quilt..a lot of good suggestions have been made, and after you spit you will be able to look at your quilt and take the bull by the horns and do what you need to do to fix it...I have lots of material or whatever you might need to use, please let me know what I can do to help you get it squared away...hugs yetta

Wish I had an answer for you.It sounds like un tieing,then reinforcing all seams will be the best you can do. I agree with another poster who said it might tear when washed again, unless seams are resewn.I have plenty of black solid cotton if that would help,just PM me.

You may have to do heavy quilting or a type of darning stitch to reinforce it enough. Unless you want to do that much work you might need to opt for another quilt. So sorry this happened to you.All the best.

This happened to me with a denim quilt (made with squares) -- when washed the first time several of the seams unraveled. Because it was made with a fleece backing and done envelope style and then tied, I used strips of denim to overlay each seam that raveled. It worked and I keep several strips made up for each time I wash it (which isn't all that often) in case other seams unravel. The reason for my problem was scanty seams ------ will never do that again! Once burned - twice shy (as my Mama would say).

Does your machine do a zig zag stitch? Would you be able to do a close zig zag over each piece where the raveling is a problem? Thinking you might be able to make it look appliqued on with a close enough stitch.

I'd be bummed, too. Your quilt is beautiful and I love the fabric you used.

The very first quilt I made to sell was a roman stripe quilt. For some unknown reason, some of the black fabric had little holes in it. I did prewash the fabric and didn't see it while I was quilting it on the machine. Not knowing what else to do, I "appliqued" a new triangular piece of black fabric over the black fabric that "came apart". I appliqued it by hand, then repeated the quilting in the diagonal lines. Fortunately, that seemed to work, but I was embarassed that the first quilt I actually sold had a problem. If you can't applique over the fabric, perhaps FMQ over it would solve the problem.

When you washed it maybe the backing shrunk more (or less?) than the front, put stress on the tied spots and the weaker areas of fabric just couldn't take the stress? Maybe you can machine quilt what your machine can reach and either re-tie or hand quilt the center portion. I'm curious if the cross fabric was brand-new or vintage, and if vintage where it was stored?

I'd be mad too, looks like you've gotten lots of good advise here on the board. I'll need to remember these tips too.

I used the same three fabrics to make a quillow for my cousin's dad who has cancer. When I read this post, I called her to ask if she had washed it (I did when I finished it and it didn't come loose)and if the seams came loose. She said yes she had washed it and no it didn't come loose. Maybe you got some from a bad batch.

Could you couch a yarn over the seams that are frying? this will hide the glue a little and provide some stability where the fray it. I would test this on scraps first to be sure it wouldn't add additional stress to that fabric and encourage more fraying! Good luck!

Best suggestion is to use a wide zig-zag stitch over all the seams using that fabric using a matching thread. For future, to avoid this problem, make sure all fabric you buy for your quilts is decent quality thread count. You check this by looking at the back of the fabric and seeing how close together the threads are. If they are not close together, don't use it, it will wear out. Step 2 is to make sure the stitch length on your machine is set at 2 - 2.5 setting, or 10-12 stitches per inch. If your stitching is too big on your piecing, it is more likely to fall apart.