Caroltee

I need advice on mixing unknown fabric blends such as poly, cotton etc. What are some help factors that I should know? I have lots of fabric that was given to me and am not sure how to use it in my quilts.

Gramie bj

I know some use only cotton in there quilts but I have mixed blends, cotton, and poly's with no problems, just make sure the weights of fabric are about the same and pre wash everything, poly's and most blends won't shrink but cotton might. I'm working on a crazy quilt that even has fake fur, cotton velvet, plain cotton, polys and blends in it . LOL It's a real crazy quilt! LOL

QuiltingCrazie

I just made a quilt for warmth using different fabrics...I'm not patient enough to wash fabric first but if your worried I would take the fabrics you want to use together and make something small but useable, potholder, mugrug, table topper 12x12. I'm all about my quilts having a purpose. Whip it up bind it and wash it, see what happens....you really wouldn't be out use it as a pot holder if it messes up but then you would know!

sewbeadit

I use cottons when I can or the others. Prefer cottons most of the time. In mixing the two, cotton and say a poly or poly/cotton blend, it looks different than the cotton after washing. If that doesn't bother you have fun and go for it. The cotton usually will be a little wrinkly where as the poly and blends look like they may have been ironed. Otherwise you can mix most anything. Washing first would be good.

GingerK

I am not a purist. Often I cannot find the exact colour match I need in cotton, so I will get poly-cotton. I always wash and dry in a hot dryer before cutting, which eliminates the worry that some fabric will later shrink and some won't. Sometimes it's a case of using what you have instead of spending money on more fabric.

mighty

ditto that!!

GrannieAnnie

Crazy quilts of old were a mis-mash of different fabrics.
What I'd do, would be to wash the fabrics prior to using them with the method you'd most likely wash the completed quilt. Check for shrinking. Check for wrinkling. And of course if something just plain falls apart, you won't be using that fabric.

Remember----------the quilt is your creation----------do what suits you, after some minor investigating.

Dolphyngyrl

I would wash it to remove any shrinkage so the quilt blocks stay uniform in size

cinson7

everyone is talking about poly or cotton I ijust run out of the cotton and have some old double knit ( the kind that stretches ) do you think that will work

bearisgray

I'm one of the people that strongly recommends washing EVERYTHING that is washable before cutting it - that way one knows ahead of time what the fabric will look like AFTER it's been washed - and if something is awful - I won't have wasted my time and effort on an item that would have gotten ruined by a piece of **** fabric.

Different fabrics - even when they are made of the same "ingredients" - sometimes behave very differently.

If you are planning to make "look at only" items - fabric behavior is not a particularly big deal.

If the items are going to be used and washed, I very strongly recommend washing the fabrics before cutting them.