LisaGibbs

I am making quilts for a friend from her mother's clothing. There are a lot of different textures, including silk type blouses. Has anyone out there used this fabric in a quilt and did it turn out okay?? I am going to have to mix it with some of the suit fabric but before I started and ended up ruining something that can't be taken back I was going to ask for advice.

PaperPrincess

You can use a light weight iron on interfacing, either non woven or tricot. I would make sure that all the fabrics could be laundered before including thm in the quilt unless it will be a wall hanging.

QuiltnNan

some of my thoughts are.... is it extremely thin? - may need a light stabilizer. do sewing holes disappear if you have to unsew?

maine ladybug

Yes, I have made memory quilts using all different fabrics and the key is to use an iron on fusible interfacing BEFORE you cut your pieces. IMO

Covered in Threads

I agree with all that PaperPrincess mentioned. It makes a tremendous difference in longevity when the fabrics are prep for quilting.
One other suggestion - in our guild we have used a number of fabrics not recommended for machine washing. We in fact do take them to be laundered and use only the ones that survive. In other words, those that shred will not survive in your quilt as we all know so well, those that shrank will now no longer shrink and you can back them now with inferface and those that seem to bleed can be deleted from the pile for safe quilt making. and if you have a great piece of clothing that tends to shred a little too much for your liking but you really want to use it - wash it, back it with interface and then serge the edges to keep is from further shredding. A number of us have made quilts from family member's clothing (wool coats, ties, silk outfits, etc...) and find these tricks to be very helpful in making a quilt that will last for years.

niizh

Miscellaneous fabric is all my mother ever used for quilts when I was grown up. If the clothing item was too small for youngest child, it went into a quilt. Some of those quilts are over 50 years old and are still in good shape.

ckcowl

when mixing fibers you need to make sure they can all be laundered (cared for) the same- whether it's washing/drying or dry cleaning- as long as the fabrics can all be cared for together they can be used together-
for thin or (slippery) fabrics adding a lightweight fusable stablizer is a good idea.

TanyaL

You don't have to wash a quilt. It can be drycleaned. I have seen some beautiful silk quilts. If the silk fabric is special, perhaps it would be worth it to showcase it in an all silk quilt, purchasing other silk fabric to go with it. Usually silk quilts are very much a work of art as they have chosen the colors of the fabric so carefully and the fabrics blend so beautifully. The patterns have usually been just squares or rectangles with sashings and borders in solids since usually the showcased pieces are most often prints. They look so very elegant! It is all in the selection of color.

LisaGibbs

You are all so awesome. I so appreciate your assistance. This is an exciting project and my only orders are to make as many as I can, no specific pattern or anything. Guess it is time to fire up the washing machine to preshrink!!