What thread to use for a Woolen quilt

[Rita C.]

Hi everybody, I am just wondering if anybody would have advice as to what kind of thread I should use to quilt a quilt made with wool fabric. The top is made from various tweeds, the batting will be wool and the backing will be flannel. I would love to use Superior Threads Rainbows but it is a polyester thread and I don't know whether that is a good idea as I don't know the effect it would have in the wash. I used cotton thread to piece it together. Having said that I don't know the effect flannel and wool will have on each other in the wash either. And as this quilt is for my son I know that it will be necessary to wash it - frequently! The alternative thread I was thinking of is King Tut quilting thread. Any suggestions? Here's a photo of the quilt so far:

[Margo C.]

Rita, I have a feeling your choice of thread will not affect the finished quilt nearly as much as using wool and flannel together. I have never done a quilt with wool fabric, so I'm not sure how much shrinkage you can expect from that, but I do know that flannel shrinks a LOT! It might be worth your time to do a test sample of your wool, flannel and batting to see how they play together. Quilt up a square sandwich of the three layers, and trim it to an exact size. Maybe 12" x 12"? Launder it like you will the finished quilt then re-measure to see how much it shrinks and see if one layer shrinks more than the others. You might try using different threads and see if there is one that looks better than another after it's laundered.

Please let us know how the testing goes!

[Margo C.]

Personally speaking I would have hot washed the fabrics individually first, on the setting that the finished quilt will be washed at, but it is a bit late for that now :roll: . By the way is your flannel a wool flannel or cotton flannel? most 'quilting flannels' that I have come across recently, seem to be cotton, but I know that there are woollen flannels out there, & this could make a difference as to it's shrinkage.

Margo's suggestion of a trial sample is probably your best option if you are really concerned. Or you could just go for the 'Chuck it and Duck' school of hopefullness :lol:

PS Liking the new photo!

[Rita C.]

Hmmm...I hadn't thought about the shrinkability of cotton flannel. And as for wool flannel, I don't think that it would have the cozy effect I am after. I am thinking now about fleece. We have some fleece blankets which I have washed many times and they have not shrunk. Any thoughts on that idea?

[Rita C.]

Modern fleece - blankets or metreage is made from polyester (actually the same stuff as fizzy pop bottles!) and does not shrink in the wash, but being a knit construction rather than woven, can stretch when being sewn. Also keep away from naked flames, as it will melt, as opposed to wool which will smolder & smell horrid before catching light (I know this from watching drunken pikemen playing with campfires :lol: )

[Rita C.]

Okay I've got that: Keep away from smoldering and horrid smelling naked drunken pikemen and old flames when sewing polyester fleece because although they will not shrink they might stretch a bit. :mrgreen:

Seriously though, thanks for the advice Rosemary. Not sure what to do - maybe I should stick to the usual cotton backing and hope for the best. Thanks, Rita.

[Margo C.]

LMAO HERE!!!

On a serious note, you all might be interested in this article about choosing safe battings, especially for babies and/or invalids. It is in the current (Fall 2011) issue of ON TRACK magazine.

http://www.imqa.org/media/uploads/20...Fall2011_1.pdf

And, for what it's worth, a TQS Stars for a New Day BOM by Marlene Hiltner is featured on the cover of the magazine!

[Margo C.]

drunken-yes, naked -no way, they were clad in wool and wooden clogs before they started dancing in the firepit - well it was 1am, and they had had a busy day bashing up the roundheads followed by some heavy duty socialising :lol: I'm sure you've seen something similar (ok missing out the bashing up the roundheads bit :wink: )

By the way I think over the other side of the pond they call fleece, minky. It is lovely and soft, and warm, and if you know that it can stretch you can take avoiding action to countermand it before it is a nusiance (ie lots of pinning/tacking), rather than have it sneak up and surprise you, you never know if you don't try.

[Margo C.]

Fleece and minky are two completely different fabrics. Minky has a definite nap, like velvet, that changes the way it looks from different directions, and it has a definite right/wrong side. Fleece is not as stretchy and I think it's a little easier to work with.

[Rita C.]

Margo, I have just read that article and thank you for that. So it's Quilters Dream from now on. I have only ever used cotton batting in my quilts. I have and do use polyester wadding sometimes for wall hangings - but I really don't like it and neither does my machine. But the article has made me think twice about putting fleece on the back of my wool quilt. (Even though my son is now a hulking 5'11" and growing.) I was planning on using wool batting which seems to be one of the more fire resistant ones which is good. Thanks, Rita.

[Norma H.]

I think I would use the flannel backing. It's not stretching as fleece will do, but I would definitely wash it first. I made my sons quilt with flannel backing and it went very well. The front is cotton, but I think the wool will behave almost like that. You can see the quilt in my profile photos. It's #1016160 and number 4 from the left under personal photos, where the back is shown

[Rita C.]

It's a lovely quilt Norma. Did you quilt it in blocks and then add the sashing? I think I will do a test like Margo suggested and see what happens. I would have to wash the quilt in a woolen wash anyway so I guess that would be pretty cool and not much of a spin. But I would wash the flannel first to preshrink it. Thanks, Rita.

[Norma H.]

Yes I did the blocks and assembled them after quilting. It is a big quilt and pretty heavy, too

[Rita C.]

Well it's lovely and I am sure it was much easier to quilt it that way. I plan on trying that soon - it's on the to-do list for a block exchange I am doing with my quilting friends. Rita.

[Hannelore N.]

The nice thing about fleece: It doesn't fray.

I am a member of the 'throw it together, it'll somehow work' school of quilting, so fabrics rarely get pre-washed. But I make an exception for the cotton/fleece combo. I like that for baby quilts because it can take a lot of abuse and thrown on the floor. I piece the top in our usual quilting cottons. I then zig-zag around the edge and toss the top in the washing machine. When dry and pressed I back it with fleece, quilt, and bind with cotton. One of my earlier efforts is now on it's 4th toddler, used a lot, still going strong, and about to be handed to No. 5.