What to do...
 

Please don't start cringing and/or laughing at me yet. I bought some books of sample upholstery fabrics and some of the fabrics are amazing...no 2 alike. All 100% cotton made in foreign countries and all different motifs. Count varies quite a bit so I did wash a few and sewed a row of them. Shrinking was a no brainer but fraying hadn't occured to me...colorfast was surprisingly good. Directions said dry clean only but that's not going to happen. My question is: can I proceed making a California king size quilt if I can get all the seams doubled so they cannot fray? They can trim down to 12' sq (after washing) which I would not even consider but huge size quilt and motifs say go for it. I think the recipient would like it and I hate to say it but some of the pieces are just gorgeous and I might not hate it myself.

You could do that. You could serge the edges. You could overcast the seams.

Sounds like fun fabric. If fraying is an issue, use 1/2 inch seams if your blocks are large.

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I would definately serge the seams or at least do a tight zigzag stitch. I wash dry clean only fabrics all the time without an issue. Dry cleaning isn't really a "dry" process anyway, it is the chemicals that they use! Go for it and please post a picture! Would love to see you samples too!

The serging would not have to be very dense to do the job either. Check inside your own drapes or those at a store for an estimate of needed closeness.

The only thing I thought of with the size of a California king is it may be too heavy to deal with. How could you wash it. I bet it would be a real challenge. Maybe consider a smaller quilt or two. Just my thoughts.

I use these all the time on dog quilts. I just finish the seams (overcast, zigzag), don't use any batting and flannel on backing. They wash and wear beautifullly, except where some of the dogs start chewing. Otherwise the dogs love the comfy fabrics.

Why would we laugh at you? Actually I'm interested in finding out how you do with your fabrics, so hope you will be posting more as you go along. My daughter gave me a lot of upholstery/drapery fabric samples, and I've been experimenting with them. I just finished one with cotton fabrics, will post soon. I made one with non-cottons, and it was very heavy, but I have washed it with no problems (dried flat on floor). http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...s-t194078.html On this quilt, I knew that the seams needed to be open to minimize bulk, but they wouldn't take pressing, so I opened them and zigzagged down the center of the seam from the wrong side. That made the seam nice and flat. I didn't worry about fraying, since I don't think that will be an issue after the quilting is done and the seams are on the inside. For your kingsize quilt, the real issue (I think) will be how heavy the fabrics are. The quilt I posted (in the link above) looks nice, but it is fairly stiff.

For sure... go for it!
Then come back and post pictures.


**a long time ago I made a king size patchwork coverlet from velvet scraps. Learned the hard way the weight of the fabric pulled at the seams. See, if I'd been as forward thinking as you I'd of done some test strips. Live and learn. Still it was beautiful.

Thanks for all your tips. I wouldn't even attempt making this large quilt if I had to piece squares so 12" is good. That's the size they need but I'll probably have a struggle putting it together because of the size. I must finish at least 1 WOP before I can commit but maybe Christmas.

I did a demin and 'sample' rag quilt, large blocks. No worries about the fraying. I think I used flannel for the back and no batting.