francie yuhas

My hand quilting group inherited beautifully embroidered,nine patch signature blocks...in pristine condition...64 of them...some dated back to 1857. The white fabric is very loosely woven...a little better than cheese cloth. I plan to make them into a quilt that I will hand quilt. Question? What to stabilize the fabric with,that will needle well? Ideas? Thanks.

PaperPrincess

I would go with either a featherweight woven or featherweight tricot knit. Both have spaces that should allow your needle thru. See if you can find some fabric that's similar to the antique version and do some samples before you go to the actual blocks. Good luck! sounds like it was quite a find.

merrylouw

Personally, I wouldn't use stabilizer on antique blocks. You just can't predict how that old fabric will react to the glue in the stabilizer. I would just handle them very carefully thru the piecing and sandwiching process.

Good luck, and have fun. I'll look forward to seeing the finished quilt.