last year i made a lady a quilt out of her son's old boxer underwear for graduation. she has a daughter graduating and her hobbies are swimming events. she has a lot of her swim suits pretty sure lycra. our quilt store says they are very hard to use in a quilt. any ideas?

Use a lightweight fusible on the fabric but watch the iron temperature. Wash the fabric first and don't use any softener in the rinse or dryer.

i would use the lycra for applique instead of piecing.

you could make bathing suit applique block out of it - you could even stuff the applique pieces with batting so the bathing suits have a 3D effect.

I have no advice on how to do this but I do remember you made the underwear quilt come out nice so I'm sure you'll figure out swimsuits. I must say you have the most interesting customers. I hope her third kid isn't into fencing. I'm pretty sure those fencing uniforms will be hard to sew.

Maybe you could do them like a t-shirt quilt with sashing. Good luck. Can't wait to see a photo.

Maybe you have to make long rectangular blocks, and have fabric underneath be flesh colored so it looks like the suit is being worn, you could trapunto so the breast and butt areas are full. Suppose the suit would need to be cut in half so you have a front and back. Or you could have suit and body appliqued on water colored fabric. Not quite as easy as underwear! LOL

Or hokey those uniforms are huge...

http://explore.speedousa.com/speedo-...Homepage_eplus
Look at sites like this and see how suits are shown. They have suits just on a plain background, maybe something like that would work.

Maybe you could do them like a t-shirt quilt with sashing. Good luck. Can't wait to see a photo.[/quote]

I have made way too many 'memory' quilts ! That is actually what got me started in quilting. Having used different synthetic fabrics in the past - I think the best idea is to find some featherweight iron-on fusable for whatever pieces you use. the idea of making doll shaped swimsuits on flesh maniquins is really cute - that's how I would go - with a water colored/wave like sashing. . . maybe a batik for the multiple colors. Good luck ! I would like to see the finished product ! My next memory quilt is a frat quilt for my son with skulls on it - of all things!

I think that this would be so cool. Smart ideas.