stitchengramie

Hi Friends,

I went to my local Jo-Ann's last week and I wanted to buy some fabric for a quilt that I am making. I saw some real nice cotton fabric that was for making apparels with. I ask the clerk that was on the floor if there was a differences between cotton quilting fabric and cotton apparel fabric. She said, "I am not sure".

Can someone please tell me if there is a difference.

Thanks,
Mary (stitchengramie)

The tulips are in full bloom here in Holland, MI and they are so beautiful. Makes me what to make a quilt with tulips on it. Only if I had a pattern.

QuiltE

IMHO there's no difference between apparel and quilting cottons.

A tulip quilt would be so fun to bring out every year for the Festival in your city ... there's lots of tulip patterns on the web. Just ask Mr. Google! :)

MTS

Here is all kinds of eye candy for inspiration, including patterns.
http://www.google.com/search?q=tulip...w=1280&bih=610

I LOVE Patty Thompson's tulip quilt:
http://www.patsythompsondesigns.com/.../archives/1291

stitchengramie

Thanks for clearing up this question for me. I have been doing the fab shop hop this month and have come across some very nice fabric and prices I can afford. I also can across some quilt kits that I am buying just for the fabric in them.

Take Care,
Mary (stitchengramie)

stitchengramie

I will check these patterns out. Thank you for the link.

Take Care,
Mary (stitchengramie)

ckcowl

all kinds of cotton fabrics are used in quilting- just like all kinds of fabric are used for appairal...as long as it is quality- not so thin it's see through you certainly use it for what ever you want...many many people have no idea there is such a thing as (quiting cotton)lots of us have been sewing for many many years and until the recent serge in quilting interest there was no distinction between the cotton fabrics- we did not have quilt shops we had fabric stores, and you bought cotton, polyester, wool or rayon for most of your sewing projects- did not matter if you were making a sun dress or a quilt...
the manufacturers figured out 10-15 years ago that they could market their cotton fabrics as (quilting cotton) and expand their market.

Favorite Fabrics

Most of the apparel fabric I've seen is a cotton blend, or synthetic.

It could be that the weight of the fabric is different, or the dyes used, or the finish. I recall reading an article some years back that apparel fabrics were typically printed using dyes that would hold up under repeated washings... as opposed to home dec type fabrics that were made using dyes that resisted fading due to light exposure.

My Quilting Treasures sales rep explained to me that there are fiber-reactive dyes, wet-printing dyes, and pigment dyes (in decreasing costliness). But I didn't have the sense to ask what the difference was in terms of longevity of the colors.

In terms of what JoAnn's calls it, well, the can call it "apparel" or they can call it "quilting"... and of course you can use it for whatever you choose.

irishrose

I just used one of JoAnn's 'apparel' cottons in a quilt and it worked out beautifully. Tropical on black was too nice a print to pass up.

KarenK

Ah - tulips in Holland, MI. Brings back pleasant memories.

Regina Grewe has a free small paper-pieced tulip pattern on her site:

http://www.reginagrewe.de/05gratismuster/gm0002_e.html