Quilting with embroidered muslin blocks from 1950's
 

Welcome to the Board!

Muslin is tricky, in that you can have really really light weight muslin, or quite robust, heavy muslin. If you can see your hand through it, you might want to consider stabilizing it with some sort of fusible. The lighter weight fusibles don't make quilting a pain, or the final quilt too stiff.

I don't suppose you have any extra little bits of the muslin to experiment with?

Alison

Muslin is usually cotton. Unless it's very loosely woven, it is quilting fabric

If they are from the 50's, you need to wash them. Chances are the colors are quite different than what you're looking at. I've washed old fabric I thought was winter white, and find out they are snow white. Use the generic oxy-clean. Put a cup of oxyclean in a bucket, add a little water, lay the blocks down in the water, add enough water to cover. Then what I usually do is take a dinner plate, lay over the blocks, and use the plate to push up and down agitate the water. If the water turns brown right away, I'll add more water or drain what's there and start over.

I would advise against washing the blocks before they are quilted. The muslin may shrink and distort in unexpected ways, especially since there is no way you can know what quality of muslin was used or whether it was prewashed before the embroidery. After quilting the batting helps keep the muslin from distorting (especially if they are closely quilted). Also, washing unfinished blocks can result in frayed edges.

You also need to be aware that many embroidery threads are not completely colorfast. This is another reason to wait until the quilt is finished before washing. When you do the first wash, you can use a washer that uses a ***lot*** of water to dilute any dye bleeds so that they do not settle into the muslin. I would also use Synthrapol and/or some color catchers in that first wash.

Edit: I should add that older embroidery threads are usually more colorfast than newer ones. This is because some of the chemicals that were effective in setting colors were eventually deemed too toxic and safer chemicals (but less effective at setting colors) have been substituted.

I have used embroidered muslin blocks from the 30's/40's to quilt. I like to back them in a lt-wt fusable. I think it makes the blocks less see-thru, helps secure the embroidery threads, as well as strengthening the fabric, esp in the seams. I just feel safer doing this when using the older fabric.

Thanks everyone for the advice and quick responses. Thinking I am being too ambitious.

I'm glad you asked this question, because I also have just received some older embroidered blocks.

Back in the 60s I finished crayon colored (heat set) and embroidered muslin blocks my mother had started in the 30s. I just added solid broadcloth sashing (which I now feel certain was most likely poly/cotton blend) to finish the top. A friend of the family hand quilted it.

After about 25 - 30 years of regular use the muslin started to wear out. Of course by then it had been through numerous children bouncing on mommy and daddy's bed, spilling who knows what on it, trips through the laundry, etc. I did not treat it like the heirloom it was, but enjoyed letting be a part of our daily lives.

So unless the muslin is obviously very thin or the embroidery seems likely to come loose, I would just treat the blocks like you would any others. If you feel the need for additional stability for either the fabric or the embroidery, a very light weight fusible interfacing could be used.

Enjoy your piece of history!

Not at all. Sounds like a fun project. If you want an even simpler approach, think about using gingham for your fabric. I've got a group of blocks about that age. The lighter colors of the 1/4" checks is a perfect match for the 50's thread.

And please do clean the blocks so you can see their colors more clearly------------and to catch any faded fabric