Silk?
 

I often hear great quilters talk about how they use silk fabrics. The AQS show in Des Moines had an exhibit of Claudia Pfeil's silk quilts, and Diane Gaudynski (which I'm sure I spelled wrong) often talks about using silks. Many of the "Chicago" fusers say they favor silk.

What kind of silk are they talking about? Do they buy apparel fabric or is there silk made for quilting? Do they use dupioni or something else?

I know about the Radiance fabrics that are a silk cotton blend; but I'm wondering what other silk fabrics quilters use.

Actually, I've seen almost all of the various silks used ... dupioni, charmeuse, chiffon .... you name it. Like any other fabric, the type of silk being used depends greatly on how one intends to use it. I've seen dupioni folded into flowers and used in blocks. I've seen chiffon painted then quilted.

I'm planning on quilting a wholecloth. So it sounds like I should just get a bunch of silk and make samples.

Here's some more info from a recent post:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...t-t231265.html

If you are doing a whole cloth I would get a silk with some body to it and has a tight weave. Several years ago I made and quilted a long cape. It quilted very well but has some body.

I'm thinking it's called Habotoi silk ... good body, nice tight weave, good sheen and not "knobby". You'll probably want to stay away from any of the knobby silks as it would interfere with the design of the whole cloth.

You can also use a lightweight interfacing with silk.