Silk panel concern?
 

I have a very sparse pattern that is just taking up a single vertical panel on a quilt, there are two silk panels that will be in there, the biggest one is 8x14, and I am wondering what the biggest concern is regarding care for this quilt. The reason I am using the silk panels is it is for a friend who gave me a couple swatches of fabric to include that had come from a Sari her mother had worn.

Thank you in advance for your advice. I will post a picture of the finished top, shouldn't take me much longer.

what kind of silk panel? What is it's weight? Are you adding silk to it? Need to have more infor about the fabric and how you intend to use it in the quilt.

The panel is pieced like the one in the picture below I found on pinterest that takes me Modern Quilt Guild's page, though I can't find the picture on that page, and when I google searched it, I found a flickr feed as well belonging to teaginnydesigns and it's called Atomic Quilt; http://www.flickr.com/photos/teaginn...ns/7462829490/ (I hope that is enough credit so that this post doesn't get deleted.) Similar to that anyway. The panel of silk would be in the middle of the spaces left by the pieced borders in that picture. Only where she pieced the areas leading to those voids, mine is a single strip of fabric, and there are 6 total panels of color and the rest of the quilt is grey. Let me know if you need more. It is sandwashed silk, light weight.

Not sure what you mean when you ask "are you adding silk to it?" I was just going to make a single panel of the silk. thanks

so, you are making an 8x14 quilt??? just the silk panal?

(Not sure what you mean when you ask "are you adding silk to it?" I was just going to make a single panel of the silk. thanks)

or...are you adding cotton quilting fabrics to it?
that was the question....using cotton? using more silks? using some other textile?
if you use a stablizer (lightweight fusable tricot interfacing) on the silk---then add cotton fabrics- you could gently wash it if needed- often quilts made with silk & other delicate fibers are protected to keep from needing laundering---vacuumed (with a nylon or cheese cloth placed over the end of the wand & held up a little bit from the surface of the quilt)
cool water, dry flat- gentle/short cycle...or spot cleaned if needed & possible...but it all does depend on what fabrics you are using...just silk? as you stated above---silk can be washed==carefully
if you do a search of ---using/caring for silk fabrics you will find alot of information- and learn what to use & what not to use.

Aha, okay, This is a queen sized quilt, with two small panels of lightweight silk. They are part of the pattern that is inspired by the the flickr feed picture I mentioned above, the rest of it is cotton. I am getting the feeling I may not be able to describe it in terms that make sense to anyone but myself.

I have washed a piece of this silk, it holds it shape very well, does not discolor, but it does wrinkle pretty badly.

I think I am going to proceed forward fearlessly. I understand that many want their quilts to last 50 years or more, but this is a piece I am making for a friends daughter who is going off to college. My biggest hope is that it is loved and worn out. (gives me an excuse to make another one) I will post a picture on this thread of the completed top which may be as early as this evening. Thanks for your advice, I think I will use the fusible interfacing, that was definitely something I had not considered. That's why I keep asking questions here, I am a self taught piecer, a recent student of a long arm and just making it up as I go.

when you use the term panel, i think of a printed scene or perhaps a silk embroided piece.
I assume from the picture that you are using a piece of solid color silk in the rectangle centers. Is this true?
If so then search on the net for info about caring for the type silk you have. The type of silk might be of significance - thin needing backing, thicker that doesn't......see my confusion?

I absolutely see what you are saying. I also see that I didn't really pose the initial question very clearly. I did proceed fearlessly, will let the stitches fall where they may and hope for the best. I have washed a piece of this silk and it held up really well. Thank you for checking back in. I am almost done with the top and will be posting a picture as soon as I can.

Sounds like you are already off and running, but there are usually 3 concerns with silk, laundering, fraying. and pin holes. Since it looks like it launders ok, the next issue would be fraying. i would probably stablize the silk with a light weight iron on knit interfacing. Using a knit, like tricot, will not change the hand and will keep it from fraying. If you've already stitched it into the quilt, re stitch using a small stitch length. The last thing you have to be careful of is that pin marks will often remain, which means if you quilt it and then decide to remove the quilting stitches and re do it, the original holes may remain.
Good luck and can't wait to see the pictures!

Okay, as promised here is the top, the purple patches are silk. I haven't actually completed this top yet, it is currently in 6 pieces, but I hoped this could give you an idea of how I was inspired by the picture I referenced above. [ATTACH=CONFIG]401567[/ATTACH]Thank you for your help and ideas, I will be adding a knit interfacing on the silk to stabilize it. My hope is that this quilt is loved and wears out long before any of the issues that I didn't take the time to plan for become reality. Now the question, what to back it with? LOL


I have to wait to finish it until there aren't prying eyes in the house to ask too many questions. I love surprises.