tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7508857823676162312.post6310906471777516784..comments2024-03-10T16:56:30.547-05:00Comments on Fat Quarter Shop's Jolly Jabber: Starching & Preparing Your Fabrics with Lisa Bongeanfantasktichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15138346415565049466noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7508857823676162312.post-25690526640794422452015-06-03T19:31:39.654-05:002015-06-03T19:31:39.654-05:00WOOHOO!! Thank you Lisa for sharing your starchin...WOOHOO!! Thank you Lisa for sharing your starching method, and thank you to Kimberly for sharing her method with us last year. I too am a BIG fan of starching my fabric before cutting it.<br /><br />The benefits of starching fabric before cutting (for me):<br />1) starched fabric frays less<br />2) starched fabric easily holds seams pressed to the side or seams pressed open (I use a wooden ironing tool)<br />3) small starched fabric pieces hold their cut shape, really important for small blocks or blocks with a lot of pieces - - - i.e. a 8.5" square block with 60+ pieces in it (mini Swoon block)<br /><br />I teach quilting classes, and one of my most informative and well received classes centers around using my own starching method, along with using a wooden iron tool, to teach quilters how to "accurately" cut and piece together a miniature Swoon block. http://thimbleblossoms.bigcartel.com/product/mini-swoon-paper-pdf-170<br /><br />Washing starched quilts isn't a problem for me because I wash all of my quilts after I have finished quilting them. After I wash and block my quilts, I trim them down and attend to the binding process using a 2" binding. Here are some links for further research on this washing and blocking process. I will admit that I sometimes use a box or half a box of Color Catchers per quilt to avoid accidental bleeding because I do not prewash fabrics.<br /><br />http://quiltsalott.blogspot.com/2013/05/washing-and-blocking-quilt.html <br />http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/2010/02/blocking-quilt.html<br />https://www.leahday.com/art-blockingquilt/<br />https://www.pinterest.com/source/chubbymother.blogspot.com/<br /><br />I hope this information is helpful to others. :-) MargoMargohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12040557755508254694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7508857823676162312.post-41324741769240546212015-06-03T10:50:49.776-05:002015-06-03T10:50:49.776-05:00I always take the time to starch, but I rarely wil...I always take the time to starch, but I rarely will starch precuts smaller than a fat quarter. I find that the fabric gets distorted when it's wet, making accurate cutting more difficult. Although, maybe this technique, where you let the fabric self dry would help reduce that distortion.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15893936168986235776noreply@blogger.com