Butterfli19

Hi Everyone! How have you been? I haven't been here much over the last few months (did you notice? lol) because I haven't been doing any sewing whatsoever, but I have a grandson coming in a few weeks and figured I'd get back to it. I didn't realize how much I actually like to sew things!

Anyway, I don't want to run out to the store and was wondering if you have ever used something similar to basting spray to attach quilt layers.

Also, I typically pre-wash fabric but am wondering if this prewashing contributes to blocks becoming stretched during ironing and quilting. Do you notice a difference between quilts made with prewashed fabric vs unwashed fabric?

Thanks!

Jim's Gem

I never pre-wash unless I am working with Flannel. Flannel shrinks so much and so differently for each piece.
I like working with the fabrics when they still have their sizing in them. My preference.
Many people on here pre-wash and then use starch.
I don't use a lot of starch, I have not had a much problelms with fabrics stretching.

Butterfli19

Thanks, Gayle. I'm going to try not washing and see if that makes a difference.

paloma

i donot wash no not lazy but haver never had a problem if and when then i might think about or not buy taht brand of material again

paloma

i donot wash no not lazy but haver never had a problem if and when then i might think about or not buy taht brand of material again

paloma

sorry did not mean to double

SittingPretty

I saw on a video by Sharon Schamber that Elmer's School glue is really just a heavy starch-type product. Maybe mixing up a batch of heavy starch and using it in a spray bottle could help with basting. I think I'd put a few safety pins in, tho, just in case.

Prism99

I don't prewash and the stabilizer in the fabric off the bolt helps keep it from distorting from cutting and piecing. If I do need to prewash a fabric (for example, to set the dye) then I starch it well before cutting.

You might want to search for a recent thread about a class from Kaye England (if my memory serves right). Apparently you can get less distortion by not ironing blocks while sewing! I haven't tried this yet, but plan to. Maybe someone has a link to that thread.....

For basting the layers, I don't think I'd risk a subsitute for spray starch. If I didn't have spray starch, I would pin or thread baste. I do use the washable Elmer's glue in teeny-tiny dots to get seams to match, but I would not want to try to use it to spray baste. And diluted starch by itself does not have enough power to hold layers together. I actually tried "glueing" two fabrics together with spray starch and it did not work at all.