Wash the @#%&^ out of the fabric!
#1
Super Member
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: East Tennessee
Posts: 1,102
Wash the @#%&^ out of the fabric!
For the first time ever, I bought real cotton quilting fabric for the backing of a quilt. I also bought the can of basting spray instead of the Elmers spray adhesive. I figured, hey, I'm already $170 into this quilt, what's an extra $2 for the can of glue?!
I sprayed the backing and the top onto the batting and ironed it. I was so excited at how beautiful it was. The next day (last night!), I started quilting the border (S-I-D) and about halfway through the first side, realized that the backing was NOT glued to the batting. So I went back to the old stand-by can of Elmers craft glue and tried it again. Started on the other side of the quilt and had the same problem. So I put some pins in it to keep it together as much as I could.
I whined and threw a fit and sobbed (ok, not really) and realized that I'm just going to have to wash the backing for it to work. It's like teflon! I've wasted 2 evenings on this already and I have to remove quite a few stitches and wash and iron it again.
There's my second gripe of the day.
I sprayed the backing and the top onto the batting and ironed it. I was so excited at how beautiful it was. The next day (last night!), I started quilting the border (S-I-D) and about halfway through the first side, realized that the backing was NOT glued to the batting. So I went back to the old stand-by can of Elmers craft glue and tried it again. Started on the other side of the quilt and had the same problem. So I put some pins in it to keep it together as much as I could.
I whined and threw a fit and sobbed (ok, not really) and realized that I'm just going to have to wash the backing for it to work. It's like teflon! I've wasted 2 evenings on this already and I have to remove quite a few stitches and wash and iron it again.
There's my second gripe of the day.
#4
Super Member
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: East Tennessee
Posts: 1,102
I didn't realize that my title may seem a bit "off color" until I saw it in my mail box. I didn't mean it to mean "bleep"... I meant to wash out whatever the non-stick-surface/sizing/starch/repellant they put on the fabric.... Sorry if anyone read that the wrong way
#6
Here's another tip that will help you. NO FABRIC SOFTENER!!! Fabric softener coats the fibers. If you've washed the fabric to get the sizing out (plus any other chemicals they might've used at the printer) don't recoat it in the rinse cycle. Good luck.
#7
I am so sorry you had problems. The sizing they use in fabrics will affect the way any adhesive sticks, including fusibles. It was a lesson I learned the hard way after not washing fabrics beforehand. Hopefully everything washes out ok and the rest of your "journey" with the quilt is easier.
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