While I love the drama that black fabric brings to a quilt, I've been avoiding it for a couple of reasons:

1. black typically fades fast and badly-- i.e., you don't knowif you'll end up with a red-black, a green-black or a charcoal-black, etc...

2. black is a magnet for dust and pet hair and sewing thread and anything else that happens to be around.

What are your experiences and thoughts about the best use and care of black-based quilts?

Never had a problem if it is good quality black fabric. The quilts I have made are usually applique and I don't have plans to wash them that often.

I use black in many of my quilts. So far, I have not had a problem. I try to buy good quality fabric so it shouldn't fade. I intend on keep using it. I think it is very dramatic in a quilt.

I used it once for sashing and a narrow border. I'm also a dedicated pre-washer of fabric and YES it's a magnet for all of the above. The quilt now resides in England and I only got to visit it once since I sent it over. It was well and good at that time (about 1 year after it's receipt), of course I have no idea how many times she washed it.

I didn't have any problem with the initial "fade" though. It was just as black coming out of the wash as it was going in. I had even used a dye catcher and I know the catcher wasn't darker.

I love to use black Kona in a quilt. I think it enhances it and really makes any other color "POP"

The key here is to buy GOOD quality. Ask me how I know! :roll: :roll:

Hate black material---nuf said!

I avoid black but only b/c of all my cats, and 2 of them are pure white lol

I've used black a couple times. Working with Warm & Nautral cotton batting, I really had a problem with the fuzz on the black. But once it was finished and washed it was ok.
I'm not sure what brand is a good black, I used Robert Kaufman.

I use a lot of black fabric, a LOT. I prewash it with Retayne, and when the quilts are done I wash them in cold water, using half the amount of detergent the label calls for, and use a detergent without optical brighteners (like Cheer Dark formula). They don't fade.

Dust shakes off; I don't have threads all over the house, just in the studio where there are no finished quilts; and my cats are black. No problems there. :D