A newbie question about glue and washing fabrics and quilts
#1
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 3
A newbie question about glue and washing fabrics and quilts
First some background so you can understand where my question is coming from. I fell in love with a McKenna Ryan pattern that had nine blocks of seashore scenes and thus began my journey in quilting. It was ambitious for a first time effort but I finished it in about a year. Nothing in the directions told me to prewash the fabrics so I didn't. I don't see that it is a problem since it is a wall hanging. I took it to a local LA quilter to quilt and bind. So I was ready for my second quilt. I agreed to make a chuppah (ceremonial canopy) for a wedding. It is going to be used this weekend for the wedding (I temporarily put a binding on it) and I am going to take it back to remove the binding, quilt and rebind after the wedding. Again, I did not prewash the batiks I used for the applique (on a white background). So now I am getting to my question. I may decide to FMQ this one myself, so I was reading all the information on the boards about using glue to "baste" the backing, batting and front of the . Is this something I can do if I am not going to wash the quilt? Given that the fabrics are all orange/red batiks on a white should I even attempt to wash the quilt after glue basting? Or would you advise that I just pin baste or take it to the local LA quilter? Is it always advisable to wash fabrics before appliquing or making blocks?
#3
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Alturas, CA
Posts: 9,393
Why not spray baste the quilt? Personally speaking I wouldn't glue baste it since you're working with batiks. I don't normally pre-wash my fabrics but I definitely would batiks or at least "set" the colors. Don't get me wrong, I love glue basting but wouldn't in this case. I'm sure that you'll get other opinions and advice.
#4
I would not use washable school glue for anything that isn't getting washed after completion. Glue can leave little blobs that turn into hard spots when dry. School glue is also a starch based product and might attract bugs. If you are doing the quilting yourself, I would use a spray adhesive. If you take to a LA, no basting is necessary. In the future.... for anything that will be washed....prewash your fabrics to eliminate any bleeders and get rid of the chemicals used in fabric production.
#5
I just started using glue, on a binding (Sharon Shaumber's method). It can temporarily discolor the fabrics or leave sticky or stiff spots, so I think that washing would be required. Of course I wash everything anyway, including wall hangings.
#6
I don't pre-wash anything ever. Glue basting can leave hard spots and funny looking spots though so I wouldn't use it for something I'm not going to wash. I would use spray baste. Make sure you get spray baste and use a light spray, not heavy. If you do decide to wash it at some point use a top loading machine and throw in some Shout color catchers. You'll usually find them on the top shelf somewhere in the laundry aisle.
#7
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 3
Thanks for all the advice, I think this one I will take to the LA quilter since I broke my wrist since I posted--so one habd typing now. In the future, I will take the time to wash the fabrics, expeciallt since I really like the batiks. Thanks everyone.
#10
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Illinois
Posts: 9,018
]...prewash your fabrics to eliminate any bleeders and get rid of the chemicals used in fabric production.[/QUOTE]
Just a general question ..........if you prewash fabric to remove chems, do you also prewash purchased clothing before wearing, or anything made of fabric before using?
Just a general question ..........if you prewash fabric to remove chems, do you also prewash purchased clothing before wearing, or anything made of fabric before using?
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02-05-2013 01:45 PM