Question on starching
 

For the first time, I am going to starch my fabrics before cutting. On what surface do you apply the apply the starch to avoid starch everywhere?
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I love this suggestion.

I use my kitchen counter for yardage but it it's fat quarters and smaller pieces
I have a large restaurant plastic tray that I put over the laundry sink.

Newspaper or old sheet or shower curtain in my laundry room on washer and dryer. Favorite is sheet that can be washed and used again. I "dunk" large pieces, but this is what I do for spraying.

Are you spray starching? I don't spray starch any more because (1) I don't like the overspray, and (2) it's hard on my hands if it's pump-type and hard on my index finger if it's air-propelled. If I were to spray starch, I would definitely use a large flat sheet to catch overspray.

My preferred method of starching yardage is to use a mixture of Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch and water. I use my kitchen island, which is a good height for this type of work and cleans up easily with water. To apply the starch mixture, I use a large wall painting brush. The starch goes on quickly this way. I just unfold the yardage as I apply and try to make sure I get all surfaces. Afterwards I allow a couple of minutes for all of the fabric fibers to absorb the starch, then toss the yardage in the dryer and iron with steam. This is the fastest and easiest method I have found for starching yardage. A side benefit is that I never get burned starch on my hot iron this way (which can happen with spray starch that is just sitting on top of fabric and has not been absorbed).

I use Sta-Flo liquid, non-diluted. I pour a couple of gallons in a bucket outside, swish my fabric in it, gently squeeze some of the excess out, and let it drip dry on the clothesline. It dries about as stiff as a playing card from a deck of cards.

People think I'm nuts until they try it. Fabric starched like paper cuts like paper, creases like paper, and sews like a dream. It does not stretch on the bias, and makes for a very precise quilt.

I starch my fabric on the cloths line when I hang it out to dry. Folding it on the line with the wrong side out and using my home made Niagara starch, I spray the back side of the fabric so it looks wet but not soaked. Leave it till damp dry and then press with a dry iron. If it gets too dry I will use steam to press it. This gives the fabric nice body to work with.

I only do this to fabric I am preparing to use, not to fabric going into my stash.

Fabric for my stash is washed and dried either outside or in the dryer. I fold and hand press it and put it in my stash so it is ready to use.

When I pull from my stash all I have to do is cut the amount I want, hang it on the cloths line, spray it, let it dry and press it.
peace

I oversize most of my blocks when possible so I spray starch when pressing my blocks. Then I trim and sew them into the rows of the quilt. You just have to find what works best for you.

I make up my own starch solution in a gallon jug. I dip my fabrics as they are usually a large size and this seems to work best for me. I wring them out once they are saturated, then hang them up on skirt hangers over the sink to catch excess starch. Also if one of my fabrics are going to bleed, they usually do it then so I can set the dye in another sink with Dawn dish soap, the blue one. Once the fabric is dry I take it to the ironing board and press away. Haven't yet but soon will install a large diameter dowel rod above my sink to put the hangers on so they don't fall off.