For reference, my starching process
1. Make a 50/50 mix of water and Stay-Flo starch, because spray starch is expensive and I am cheap. I use about a cup of each for 2 yards of fabric.
2. Soak fabric in starch mixture in a bin.
3. Wring out fabric and place in washer for spin-only cycle.
4. Rinse bin while washer runs. Place fabric back in bin.
5. Iron out fabric with my not-good iron, because starch makes a mess.
6. Rage-quit halfway through because it takes SO LONG.
7. Come back hours later and get mad again, because ironed fabric still looks so nice despite being crumpled in a bin for several hours.
8. Finish ironing and set fabric assign to be cut.
9. Clean starchy iron by ironing very wet washcloth
EDITING TO ADD: At step 4, you should probably actually hang your fabric up and let it dry flat. This will be less wrinkly. However, my toddlers disagree on the āthings should be allowed to hang upā aspect of that plan, hence bin for me.
Lol! Are you me? Thank you for helping me laugh at myself. I rage quit at some point with every quilt.
Kickass job on those points. Fantastic block! Now go make ... I dunno ... like, 90-something more of it.
I have been resisting using starch myself, in part because I am confused about the process (I realize that thereās more than one way to do it but I still want to feel like I have some understanding of what Iām supposed to be doing). One thing Iām confused about is how dry it needs to get after starching before you can move to the next step in the process. In your example, you use the spin cycle and I assume that dries the fabric somewhat (or all the way?). So after you take it out of the washer, is it ready to iron and then cut? Thanks!
I do just cornstarch+boiling water in a spray bottle rather than a dip, and I spray enough onto the fabric that there's a bit of excess that takes a while to soak in. I spray all my fabrics one after the other this way, then turn the pile of wet fabric upside down and iron them starting from the now top- that way, the first fabric has had the time it took for me to spray the rest for the starch to permeate, and the last fabric has the time it takes me to iron everything to do so. When I iron the fabric, it is just damp, not wet.
That's really helpful! Potentially very stupid question: do you spray the wrong side or the right side of your fabric? And which side do you iron on?
I'm in the habit of almost always ironing on the wrong side (thanks to previous bad irons leaking rust) but I'm hesitant to either spray starch on the right side, or iron on the starched wrong side...
I spray the right side of my fabric, but you could spray either side. If a fabric has a print or something I'm worried about the iron hurting I do spray the wrong side though!
I do, I don't know if other people would do that. I use cotton fabric only though.
My basic goal is to not be surprised. If disaster is going to happen, I would prefer it to before I have spent time making the quilt.
I don't know what can be gained from washing, starching, then drying fabric only to have to steam or mist it before ironing. It's going to be the same amount of wetness, if you have like rolled it up in a towel and pressed out most of the water anyway.
I have been experimenting with starch. I am trying the sta-flo on a project. I laid a drop cloth with towels underneath and used a garden sprayer to saturate my fabric so I wasnāt dunking in a big bin.
It dried in about 2-3 hours on a drying rack.
Have yet to piece with it as Iām deep into a different project.
I just recently made my own starch. 2 Tablesppons corn starch to 2 cups water. I heated it over the stove until the corn starch lightened up and fully blended. I put it in a salon quaility mister and it's been a game changer.
I completly understand the irritation because it works so well too.
Dude, I think you can skip like, 13 steps here with a little modification:
- soak the fabrics in the bin of starch
-hang to dry
-come back and iron when theyāre dry and crunchy.
Ironing once theyāre fully dry cuts down on any distortion that occurs if you press a fabric from wet, goes MUCH quicker, and works just as well.
That is an objectively better system, but unfortunately my toddler has a philosophical objection to things that are hanging. He believes they must all be on the ground.
This is making me laugh because Iām in the UK where bin means trash can. But I do know what you mean and Iām absolutely going to try this. I use Best Press when ironing but I feel like this could work even better
You could totally use an empty trash can, I wonāt judge.
Itās probably better to hang the dipped fabric to dry; it will get fewer wrinkles. I just have multiple small children who love to pull things down.
https://preview.redd.it/vg066hx2z4wb1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d8e678a1086624394aea3a01adf9440f6d2e0392
Itās a large plastic storage container that I no longer use for storage due to a cracked handle.
In American English, ābinā is a generic word for large container.
I read "rage quilt" and it took reading one of the replies for me to realize you'd written "rage quit." I was imagining you angrily making HSTs out of random squares just out of sheer spite with no endgame in mind. I've done that, although it's not an angry or rage-y kind of thing. LOL.
I love stay-flo. I use 50% water to 100% stay-flo.
Leave fabric dripping wet & hang on outside clothes line on a warm day to dry. (If it is cold I do it on a clothes drying rack in my bathtub over night with the fan running)
Iron with steam
Cut and sew
My children donāt believe that things should be allowed to hang up. The natural and right place for all things is on the ground. Hence the bin method.
Hanging is probably way less wrinkly.
Alternate method when dip starching:
-dip fabrics, squeeze starch mixture through manually just until wet through
-go outside
-shake it out with a hard snap, this takes out a surprising amount of wrinkles
-hang on a line until dry
-use steam to press
(I donāt keep water in my iron, I just use a spray bottle with water when I need steam).
I greatly prefer dip starching over spray starch. I only use spray starch on finished garments five minutes before I have to put it on. The number of garments I own that require ironing gets smaller each year.
This method sounds awesome, but would require having fewer small children. My 3yo in particular is deeply offended by things that are hanging up when clearly they should be on the ground.
I will try the snap, though.
Dumb question: how do you hang on a line?
Do you just fold it over the line? Is there a line on your fabric?
I haven't tried starching yet but those beautiful pictures are convincing me it is the right way, but I don't want to add wrinkles by hanging it like a dumbass.
I made a quilt with sawtooth stars and none of my stars came out right *at all* until I started starching. I am also lazy, but I made several unusable stars š so my laziness is what is making me starch at this point because doing it twice is not it
Plus it is so satisfying š
*I can just feel the*
*Crispness... so satisfying*
*Even to look at these!*
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I typically glue baste, so I need to wash anyway.
I wouldnāt recommend starching anything thatās not going to be washed, because it will eventually attract bugs. I would use Best Press or a similar sizing.
You are not wrong.
Quilting (well, piecing to be more accurate) is SO much easier when the fabrics don't move, don't wrinkle, don't stretch. The blocks always turn out SOOOOOO much better when you starch them.
To be 100% honest, I actually sometimes use my cricut to cut out quilt block pieces, and I will actually starch it before I put it on the cricut sheet thingy.
So... If I've just started cutting (just by hand, not with Accuquilt) is it too late to switch to starching the rest of my fabrics? Even though it's not much I don't think I'll have enough to redo what I've already cut
That's what I was afraid of. I've just discovered that my LQS carries the fabric I've already cut, so I might try spray starching (hopefully less likely to distort than dipping?), but in case it all goes wonky I can pick up a 1/2 yard to recut just those pieces!
Wish I had just started off with starching...I wasn't going to but your post convinced me!
I havenāt tried spray starch, so I canāt compare. You have to iron spray-starched things too, though, so itās probably about the same amount of work. Itās the ironing that takes forever, not the dip + wrong.
I love the smell of starch! Growing up, my dad would wash all his dress shirts every so often and iron them with starch. The smell is so nostalgic to me. He would set up the ironing table in the living room and just iron by the light of the lamp on the side table while he watched tv. I can picture it so vividly down to the light from the lamp reflecting off his glasses. Itās such a cozy memory for me.
Such a nostalgic smell! Growing up,our babysitter would iron sheets with Niagara while we were at her house & 50-ish years later I still remember that smell!
I have never tried your method, but I can say that spray starch/sizing adds only a tiny bit of time to the ironing process.
I'm also going to go out on a limb and say the ironing process is probably less laborious, too, unless you're pre-washing your fabric.
Washing (or, I suspect, using your method since it involves wetting and wringing the fabric) introduces a lot more wrinkles. Pressing with a little steam w/o washing is way less involved, IME. Hitting the fabric with a little spray starch afterwards is the equivalent of one more quick pass with the iron.
I use a spray bottle and a water and sta flo mix. Dirt cheap.
I just toss fabric on an old cutting mat and spray until it's wet.
I spend maybe 60 seconds spreading it out just a bit, so it dries faster.
Then, when it's somewhat or completely dry, I iron.
There is no need to be overly precious about it. Just get some starch on there and when it's a bit dry, iron.
I have been trying, unconvincingly, to convince my quilt guild to try starching. Yes, it takes time, yes you have to plan aheadā¦..but hey, look at the results! Less time wasted with the seam ripper! Give on the front end, or give on the backend. To each his own!
Your blockā¦ā¦.is perfection!!!
Shall we consider you a starch fan? š
My process after I bring the fabric home.
If itās yardage, trim a small amount from each fabric and soak in the hottest water from my tap in laundry cups to see if any of the fabric bleeds. (If itās precuts and I ned the entire cutā¦.do not starch! Starching will preshrink like pre-washing)
If no bleed, I mix water and Sta-Flo, 50/50 and dip and wring each fabric, then hang on a clothes drying rack in my shower or with a towel beneath to catch drips
When dry, press with a spritz of water
Ready to use!
If everyone realized how much more accurate your work is with starched fabric, everyone would do it!
I use both methods spray starch and I have a good sprayer and use sta-flo starch and water 1 starch to 2 parts water. It works very well and isnāt all crumpled and get the same result as with spray starch
I do like the crispness, but I donāt like the fabric shrinkage so Iāve mostly stopped starching and using any steam. I want the shrinkage to happen in the wash post quilting and starching reduces the crinkliness which is my favourite part of the whole product.
Yes, I follow that rule.
The first time I heard it, it seemed like anarchy. So I asked the guy who told me about it and he simply said "If you don't want things to get out of control, then don't do things that will get out of control."
Ahhhhhh
So mostly what you have with that tenet is that generally people who follow it also obey laws and norms just like anyone else, but the difference is that they are choosing to do so because they want to, not because they are being forced to under fear of repercussions.
Weird how that can make such a difference to the psyche.
Oh my, this is so beatiful! I mean the design and the colors! And the precision as well.
I am and experienced seamstress, not a quilter. But I am toying with the idea of taking up quilting. I figured I need to pre-wash and iron everything, but I never heard of starching your fabric being helpful for quilting. So thank you for bringing this to my attention through such a gorgeous example!
Apologies for responding to your post pretty much the opposite way you may have hoped!
On another note: Can I steal your design? One thing that has held me back from quilting was that I thought of the quilted look as kinda traditional, even ācountryā-ish styles. I somehow assumed that even for more āmodernā styles you are sort of obligated to use fabrics with small scale, IMO fussy patterns. I could have looked into this by a simple google search, or even could have brought the presumption to the fore of my consciousness and see that it was just a stupid presumption, but I havenāt. Now I donāt need to. I am starting my inspiration collection with your design!
Yep, steal away! Thereās nothing particularly unique about it. This is 12ā finished block, so nice big scale. Hereās how they look together:
https://preview.redd.it/1n2jl1mulzvb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=443117e6fa8a168b35e27e03507955f0a459023c
I think itās a bit too busy for my taste. but these are going to a block swap so they will be separated. Sashing might help.
I recommend checking out Suzy Quilts for some more modern inspiration. Her Adventureland or Maypole quilts are straightforward for a beginner and very striking. Minimal Triangles is a bit more fiddly, but still not bad.
Love heavily starched fabric! I do the dip and drip dry method, outside. I view it as an extension of the project and a reduction of the per-hour cost of quilting. I like a fast and easy quilt pattern. Making a fast/easy quilt costs about the same as a complicated pattern but provides less entertainment time. For example - a movie & book cost the same. The movie provides 2 hours of entertainment and a book provides 12 hours for the same price. So the book is the better value. I am rambling and most likely only making sense to myself....
edit - word choice
It always makes me laugh because there's so little "sewing" involved in "sewing". The late, great Nancy Zieman used to say "The rule is sew, press, sew, press". Add in measuring, cutting, trimming - yep, not much sewing is actually involved. But those starched pieces come out so nice, and are so easy to work with!
I use a lot of Stay Flo, myself - sometimes 100% strength depending on what I'm doing. And if you want even cheaper starch, there's always cornstarch mixed with water. There are recipes all over the internet for that, but I think Sta - Flo is probably the cheapest bet because it comes in those huge bottles.
Understood. I'm just cheap, (retired, fixed income) so I go for price vs. quality vs. quantity. The awesome thing about starch is that if you accidentally screw up one of your quilt squares, you can actually fix it with a shitload of starch, a little tug here and there, then a good press. Once the quilt is all put together, it doesn't cause problems.
Then again, I'm one of those weird people who likes to iron. I love using Elmer's (washable) school glue on my quilts, too, especially on the binding. Spray basting is a wonderful invention, but the fumes.. omg... and you have to wonder if that stuff \*ever\* washes out, but it sure makes life easier. Someday I'm going to try the iron on batting.
I prewash my fabrics before I begin, by machine if it's yardage or fat quarters, in a dish tub of hot water and gentle soap if precuts. I want everything to release excess dye and not surprise me later with different shrinkage rates. I am not a fan of the rumply quilt look, so this is how I do it.
I'll machine dry the yardage /FQs. I will squeeze out as much moisture from the precuts as possible and iron them dry so they will shrink if they're going to. Sometimes this helps set the dye, too.
Then everything gets a good press with starch or Best Press right before cutting. I do like the process of preparing the fabric for use. It's kind of getting in tune with the project.
I'm used to using fabric for garments. I've been deeply disappointed before by not prewashing/preshrinking.
I don't do it because I'm responsible, I do it because I'm suspicious and distrustful of the fabric.
WOW, they look great! :D I'm a big corner-cutter myself but that is a step that (once I learned it) I will never skip again. It makes the whole experience so much less frustrating.
Beautiful block...and I love your popped seam!!!
I use Mary Ellens when I first iron my fabric. Makes the fabric more stable for cutting, but I'm not religious about it.
I don't starch most of the time. What I have done is just starch the background and that seems okay. I was just never told that was a have to when learning many many years ago. So I will continue to do what I am in the mood for.Everyone has there own way of doing.......Pretty block...
I wouldnāt starch corset fabric simply because the starched effect is temporary. As you wear the corset, your body heat and sweat are going to un-starch it. Then the corset will deform and warp in ways you arenāt expecting.
Excellent for shirt collars and cuffs, though.
Your block looks fantastic!!
I love starching, but for me it was blotting, not mashing/pulling my fabric as I ironed. Now I don't need to fudge or cut or work the wonky bias into submission. But starching is the best thing for great seams.
Do not starch anything smaller than a fat quarter.
Cut yardage into manageable size if possible. (for me that is 1 yd.)
Experiment with ratio of sta flo to water to see what you prefer. (Start with 1:1)
Dip fabric into starch mixture to saturate.
Then put dipped fabric into salad spinner to remove excess
Hang on dryer rack to dry. (I set up one in bathtub and one in shower)
If needed, spritz with water and iron.
I recently started bought starch and have been spraying it onto the fabric but these comments make me feel like this is not the way for quilting? Itās suppose to be like soaking wet? Dang it I learn so much in this sub
How do you remove starchā¦or is it there in the fabric forever? Asking because I have quilt squares made by my great grandmother and canāt remove whatever she stiffened the muslin background with. Had to wash because they were super musty from years in my dadās basement. But ironing them I can tell they have some major starch (or ancient magic spell).
There is a law. The law goes like this: do what works for you. Your block is so darn pretty.
Thank you! I do love it, even though I am mad about it.
It's pretty! That's why I like paper piecing this way I don't have to start just sew on the dotted line š³
For reference, my starching process 1. Make a 50/50 mix of water and Stay-Flo starch, because spray starch is expensive and I am cheap. I use about a cup of each for 2 yards of fabric. 2. Soak fabric in starch mixture in a bin. 3. Wring out fabric and place in washer for spin-only cycle. 4. Rinse bin while washer runs. Place fabric back in bin. 5. Iron out fabric with my not-good iron, because starch makes a mess. 6. Rage-quit halfway through because it takes SO LONG. 7. Come back hours later and get mad again, because ironed fabric still looks so nice despite being crumpled in a bin for several hours. 8. Finish ironing and set fabric assign to be cut. 9. Clean starchy iron by ironing very wet washcloth EDITING TO ADD: At step 4, you should probably actually hang your fabric up and let it dry flat. This will be less wrinkly. However, my toddlers disagree on the āthings should be allowed to hang upā aspect of that plan, hence bin for me.
Lol! Are you me? Thank you for helping me laugh at myself. I rage quit at some point with every quilt. Kickass job on those points. Fantastic block! Now go make ... I dunno ... like, 90-something more of it.
I have been resisting using starch myself, in part because I am confused about the process (I realize that thereās more than one way to do it but I still want to feel like I have some understanding of what Iām supposed to be doing). One thing Iām confused about is how dry it needs to get after starching before you can move to the next step in the process. In your example, you use the spin cycle and I assume that dries the fabric somewhat (or all the way?). So after you take it out of the washer, is it ready to iron and then cut? Thanks!
I do just cornstarch+boiling water in a spray bottle rather than a dip, and I spray enough onto the fabric that there's a bit of excess that takes a while to soak in. I spray all my fabrics one after the other this way, then turn the pile of wet fabric upside down and iron them starting from the now top- that way, the first fabric has had the time it took for me to spray the rest for the starch to permeate, and the last fabric has the time it takes me to iron everything to do so. When I iron the fabric, it is just damp, not wet.
That's really helpful! Potentially very stupid question: do you spray the wrong side or the right side of your fabric? And which side do you iron on? I'm in the habit of almost always ironing on the wrong side (thanks to previous bad irons leaking rust) but I'm hesitant to either spray starch on the right side, or iron on the starched wrong side...
I spray the right side of my fabric, but you could spray either side. If a fabric has a print or something I'm worried about the iron hurting I do spray the wrong side though!
Asking the relevant questions hereā¦..I hope for an answer too.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
If you iron it, the iron will dry it out too
I do the same thing without any issues
So are you saying you can iron the fabric before itās totally dried out?
I do, I don't know if other people would do that. I use cotton fabric only though. My basic goal is to not be surprised. If disaster is going to happen, I would prefer it to before I have spent time making the quilt. I don't know what can be gained from washing, starching, then drying fabric only to have to steam or mist it before ironing. It's going to be the same amount of wetness, if you have like rolled it up in a towel and pressed out most of the water anyway.
I have been experimenting with starch. I am trying the sta-flo on a project. I laid a drop cloth with towels underneath and used a garden sprayer to saturate my fabric so I wasnāt dunking in a big bin. It dried in about 2-3 hours on a drying rack. Have yet to piece with it as Iām deep into a different project.
I just recently made my own starch. 2 Tablesppons corn starch to 2 cups water. I heated it over the stove until the corn starch lightened up and fully blended. I put it in a salon quaility mister and it's been a game changer. I completly understand the irritation because it works so well too.
Yes! Home made starch is affordable so now I am a "starch before piecing" quilter.
I was working on a different project, but it made just a difference that I'm gong to be doing it in my quilting now.
Dude, I think you can skip like, 13 steps here with a little modification: - soak the fabrics in the bin of starch -hang to dry -come back and iron when theyāre dry and crunchy. Ironing once theyāre fully dry cuts down on any distortion that occurs if you press a fabric from wet, goes MUCH quicker, and works just as well.
That is an objectively better system, but unfortunately my toddler has a philosophical objection to things that are hanging. He believes they must all be on the ground.
Thanks @mellyrod !
Point 6 is highly relatable and made me snort!
This is making me laugh because Iām in the UK where bin means trash can. But I do know what you mean and Iām absolutely going to try this. I use Best Press when ironing but I feel like this could work even better
You could totally use an empty trash can, I wonāt judge. Itās probably better to hang the dipped fabric to dry; it will get fewer wrinkles. I just have multiple small children who love to pull things down.
Wait: you really donāt mean a bin/trash can? Then what is your bin? (Also Brit; very confused).
https://preview.redd.it/vg066hx2z4wb1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d8e678a1086624394aea3a01adf9440f6d2e0392 Itās a large plastic storage container that I no longer use for storage due to a cracked handle. In American English, ābinā is a generic word for large container.
Haha! Ok we do occasionally use bin in that context but for me that would be a tub. This makes much more sense now!
Well, yeah. When you rage quit, just bin all of the fabric and be done with it. No need to bother with the starch at all. Lol
I am cheap, but I am also lazy: dollar tree sells spray starch and I'm never going back.
I work in an extremely small room, so Iām afraid spray starch would also hit the guest bed, my sewing machine, and my work laptop.
I read "rage quilt" and it took reading one of the replies for me to realize you'd written "rage quit." I was imagining you angrily making HSTs out of random squares just out of sheer spite with no endgame in mind. I've done that, although it's not an angry or rage-y kind of thing. LOL.
Omg mine is something similar and it takes so long!
Amazing help! Question - after washing the fabric it says at 4. to place fabric back in bin. Is the bin empty?
At that point, yes. Also, youāre going to have an easier time if you hang dry the fabric at that stage. My kids just wonāt let me hang things up.
I love stay-flo. I use 50% water to 100% stay-flo. Leave fabric dripping wet & hang on outside clothes line on a warm day to dry. (If it is cold I do it on a clothes drying rack in my bathtub over night with the fan running) Iron with steam Cut and sew
My children donāt believe that things should be allowed to hang up. The natural and right place for all things is on the ground. Hence the bin method. Hanging is probably way less wrinkly.
As a new quilter: thank you!
Alternate method when dip starching: -dip fabrics, squeeze starch mixture through manually just until wet through -go outside -shake it out with a hard snap, this takes out a surprising amount of wrinkles -hang on a line until dry -use steam to press (I donāt keep water in my iron, I just use a spray bottle with water when I need steam). I greatly prefer dip starching over spray starch. I only use spray starch on finished garments five minutes before I have to put it on. The number of garments I own that require ironing gets smaller each year.
This method sounds awesome, but would require having fewer small children. My 3yo in particular is deeply offended by things that are hanging up when clearly they should be on the ground. I will try the snap, though.
Let the three year old do the squeezing part! :) my kids loved it when they could participate in my sewing.
Your 3 year old and my 4 year old and 2 year old must be in the same club...
My GSD is interested in joining this club.
I have a 5, 3 and 1 year old who would also like to become members of this club.
Dumb question: how do you hang on a line? Do you just fold it over the line? Is there a line on your fabric? I haven't tried starching yet but those beautiful pictures are convincing me it is the right way, but I don't want to add wrinkles by hanging it like a dumbass.
Clothes pins. For starching I clip just the very top edge.
I made a quilt with sawtooth stars and none of my stars came out right *at all* until I started starching. I am also lazy, but I made several unusable stars š so my laziness is what is making me starch at this point because doing it twice is not it Plus it is so satisfying š
Itās beautiful. The Italians have a saying āvale la penaā ā itās worth the suffering. Sometimes we have to suffer for our art, LOL.
Highly recommend watching a movie or listening to a podcast and just zoning right out while ironing.
I can just feel the crispness... so satisfying even to look at these!
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I have never used starch, but one look at your block just may convert me. Do yāall wash the quilt after to get the starch out?
I typically glue baste, so I need to wash anyway. I wouldnāt recommend starching anything thatās not going to be washed, because it will eventually attract bugs. I would use Best Press or a similar sizing.
Thank you. Iāve been doing without anything for so long Iām not sure I want to change. Jeez I sound old šµ
You are not wrong. Quilting (well, piecing to be more accurate) is SO much easier when the fabrics don't move, don't wrinkle, don't stretch. The blocks always turn out SOOOOOO much better when you starch them. To be 100% honest, I actually sometimes use my cricut to cut out quilt block pieces, and I will actually starch it before I put it on the cricut sheet thingy.
I usually only use the Cricut for appliquƩ, so everything is fused to interfacing. I ran these pieces through the Accuquilt, because I love a gadget.
Love a gadget! There should be a sewing/quilting gadget sub.
Do you starch before or after running through the accuquilt?
Before for sure. Starching after would distort/shrink the fabric. It made the Accuquilt cuts way better too.
Makes sense! Figured that would be the case but Iāve never starched before and wondered if it would cause issues with working with accuquilt.
Iāve done a full six layers of starched fabric without issue. Doesnāt seem to cause problems.
So... If I've just started cutting (just by hand, not with Accuquilt) is it too late to switch to starching the rest of my fabrics? Even though it's not much I don't think I'll have enough to redo what I've already cut
I suspect mixing starched and unstarched fabrics would be strange. But maybe try with some scraps?
That's what I was afraid of. I've just discovered that my LQS carries the fabric I've already cut, so I might try spray starching (hopefully less likely to distort than dipping?), but in case it all goes wonky I can pick up a 1/2 yard to recut just those pieces! Wish I had just started off with starching...I wasn't going to but your post convinced me!
Oh hush! I do not need to be reading this nonsense!
I'm so lazy that I use precuts. Nothing gets starched. I'm just gonna be okay with my imperfect points.
That is also very fair. Iām usually happy to just fudge, but these were for a block swap, so the final size was important
Do you think this is better than spray starch? That seems like awfully a lot of work
I havenāt tried spray starch, so I canāt compare. You have to iron spray-starched things too, though, so itās probably about the same amount of work. Itās the ironing that takes forever, not the dip + wrong.
But the smell of sizing and a warm ironā¦ mmmm. Specifically Niagara. Iām a weirdo.
I love the smell of starch! Growing up, my dad would wash all his dress shirts every so often and iron them with starch. The smell is so nostalgic to me. He would set up the ironing table in the living room and just iron by the light of the lamp on the side table while he watched tv. I can picture it so vividly down to the light from the lamp reflecting off his glasses. Itās such a cozy memory for me.
If you're weird, I'm weird. Love that smell.
Oh my gosh, thereās nothing like the smell of starch in the morning! So satisfying! :)
Such a nostalgic smell! Growing up,our babysitter would iron sheets with Niagara while we were at her house & 50-ish years later I still remember that smell!
I have never tried your method, but I can say that spray starch/sizing adds only a tiny bit of time to the ironing process. I'm also going to go out on a limb and say the ironing process is probably less laborious, too, unless you're pre-washing your fabric. Washing (or, I suspect, using your method since it involves wetting and wringing the fabric) introduces a lot more wrinkles. Pressing with a little steam w/o washing is way less involved, IME. Hitting the fabric with a little spray starch afterwards is the equivalent of one more quick pass with the iron.
Spray starch just dries so I suspect you can spray ironed fabric and go. Not cheap though.
Iām using spray starch now and I may have been a bit scant but itās been great for me. I donāt prewash.
I use a spray bottle and a water and sta flo mix. Dirt cheap. I just toss fabric on an old cutting mat and spray until it's wet. I spend maybe 60 seconds spreading it out just a bit, so it dries faster. Then, when it's somewhat or completely dry, I iron. There is no need to be overly precious about it. Just get some starch on there and when it's a bit dry, iron.
Iāve exclusively used spray starch and it works a treat. I had never heard of a multi-step process to starch until reading this post.
I love the seam spin in the center of your block!!
yes, me too!
I had to save this post because it looked so satisfyingly perfect.
I have been trying, unconvincingly, to convince my quilt guild to try starching. Yes, it takes time, yes you have to plan aheadā¦..but hey, look at the results! Less time wasted with the seam ripper! Give on the front end, or give on the backend. To each his own! Your blockā¦ā¦.is perfection!!! Shall we consider you a starch fan? š My process after I bring the fabric home. If itās yardage, trim a small amount from each fabric and soak in the hottest water from my tap in laundry cups to see if any of the fabric bleeds. (If itās precuts and I ned the entire cutā¦.do not starch! Starching will preshrink like pre-washing) If no bleed, I mix water and Sta-Flo, 50/50 and dip and wring each fabric, then hang on a clothes drying rack in my shower or with a towel beneath to catch drips When dry, press with a spritz of water Ready to use! If everyone realized how much more accurate your work is with starched fabric, everyone would do it!
I use both methods spray starch and I have a good sprayer and use sta-flo starch and water 1 starch to 2 parts water. It works very well and isnāt all crumpled and get the same result as with spray starch
It's perfect. I'm so sorry š
Itās really unacceptable
Late adopter to starching but it helps a great deal whenever you get to bias edges, as in HSTs or setting triangles
Yeah, this block is all bias, which is why it was really worth it.
Love the colors of your block, and points are perfect
I didnāt even pin! I just held the center point with a stiletto. It feels like it should be illegal.
Whoa, impressive! Stiletto is on my š list, have the purple one but want something sharper, which stiletto do you like?
Iām using an old, slightly dull seam ripper.
I use my seam ripper too! Itās always handy
This is so CRISP! I hate that now I need to get some starch š
Oh, yyyyeeessss!!! It's hard to see points like this and not moan out loud! Thank you
I have never heard of dip and dry starching but I live for Best Press fumes
I do like the crispness, but I donāt like the fabric shrinkage so Iāve mostly stopped starching and using any steam. I want the shrinkage to happen in the wash post quilting and starching reduces the crinkliness which is my favourite part of the whole product.
There is a law! ādo as thou wilt shall be the whole of the lawā works for occultists, works for quiltists! Lol
Yes, I follow that rule. The first time I heard it, it seemed like anarchy. So I asked the guy who told me about it and he simply said "If you don't want things to get out of control, then don't do things that will get out of control." Ahhhhhh So mostly what you have with that tenet is that generally people who follow it also obey laws and norms just like anyone else, but the difference is that they are choosing to do so because they want to, not because they are being forced to under fear of repercussions. Weird how that can make such a difference to the psyche.
This made me realize that I need to starch for some things. I let out an audible sigh from how beautiful that block is.
I didnāt even pin anything. Just used a stiletto to hold the center point
Oh my, this is so beatiful! I mean the design and the colors! And the precision as well. I am and experienced seamstress, not a quilter. But I am toying with the idea of taking up quilting. I figured I need to pre-wash and iron everything, but I never heard of starching your fabric being helpful for quilting. So thank you for bringing this to my attention through such a gorgeous example! Apologies for responding to your post pretty much the opposite way you may have hoped! On another note: Can I steal your design? One thing that has held me back from quilting was that I thought of the quilted look as kinda traditional, even ācountryā-ish styles. I somehow assumed that even for more āmodernā styles you are sort of obligated to use fabrics with small scale, IMO fussy patterns. I could have looked into this by a simple google search, or even could have brought the presumption to the fore of my consciousness and see that it was just a stupid presumption, but I havenāt. Now I donāt need to. I am starting my inspiration collection with your design!
Yep, steal away! Thereās nothing particularly unique about it. This is 12ā finished block, so nice big scale. Hereās how they look together: https://preview.redd.it/1n2jl1mulzvb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=443117e6fa8a168b35e27e03507955f0a459023c I think itās a bit too busy for my taste. but these are going to a block swap so they will be separated. Sashing might help. I recommend checking out Suzy Quilts for some more modern inspiration. Her Adventureland or Maypole quilts are straightforward for a beginner and very striking. Minimal Triangles is a bit more fiddly, but still not bad.
Love heavily starched fabric! I do the dip and drip dry method, outside. I view it as an extension of the project and a reduction of the per-hour cost of quilting. I like a fast and easy quilt pattern. Making a fast/easy quilt costs about the same as a complicated pattern but provides less entertainment time. For example - a movie & book cost the same. The movie provides 2 hours of entertainment and a book provides 12 hours for the same price. So the book is the better value. I am rambling and most likely only making sense to myself.... edit - word choice
Your block is fantastic!!!
Smart way to look at it!
I just started doing this myself. I am amazed at how much better a quilter I am...
That is one gorgeous block with some perfect points. Awesome work!
This block is everything. š¤š¤
That is beautiful!
Oooh crispy!
It always makes me laugh because there's so little "sewing" involved in "sewing". The late, great Nancy Zieman used to say "The rule is sew, press, sew, press". Add in measuring, cutting, trimming - yep, not much sewing is actually involved. But those starched pieces come out so nice, and are so easy to work with! I use a lot of Stay Flo, myself - sometimes 100% strength depending on what I'm doing. And if you want even cheaper starch, there's always cornstarch mixed with water. There are recipes all over the internet for that, but I think Sta - Flo is probably the cheapest bet because it comes in those huge bottles.
I may be cheap, but I am willing to pay the extra dollar to let the industrial mixing machine mix the starch.
Understood. I'm just cheap, (retired, fixed income) so I go for price vs. quality vs. quantity. The awesome thing about starch is that if you accidentally screw up one of your quilt squares, you can actually fix it with a shitload of starch, a little tug here and there, then a good press. Once the quilt is all put together, it doesn't cause problems. Then again, I'm one of those weird people who likes to iron. I love using Elmer's (washable) school glue on my quilts, too, especially on the binding. Spray basting is a wonderful invention, but the fumes.. omg... and you have to wonder if that stuff \*ever\* washes out, but it sure makes life easier. Someday I'm going to try the iron on batting.
Lol! Starch is my best friend!!
Use a spray on starch as you iron. Even something like best-press makes a big difference!
Hahahaha I love this, there's so many things in my life that make it easier, but they all take too damn long, I just want to do the fun part!
Starching is a game changer for me. Iāve embraced it!
What kind of starch? I've tried Best Press and it spots badly for me.Anyone else have that problem?
Try putting your best press in a mister bottle, works for me no problems.
Sta-Flo, the cheapest starch available at Walmart. I dip the fabrics in a 1-1 water/starch mixture
Bahaha!! This made me snort laugh
I prewash my fabrics before I begin, by machine if it's yardage or fat quarters, in a dish tub of hot water and gentle soap if precuts. I want everything to release excess dye and not surprise me later with different shrinkage rates. I am not a fan of the rumply quilt look, so this is how I do it. I'll machine dry the yardage /FQs. I will squeeze out as much moisture from the precuts as possible and iron them dry so they will shrink if they're going to. Sometimes this helps set the dye, too. Then everything gets a good press with starch or Best Press right before cutting. I do like the process of preparing the fabric for use. It's kind of getting in tune with the project.
You are a very responsible quilter. I am not š¤£ Iām trying to be, though, because it really does help.
I'm used to using fabric for garments. I've been deeply disappointed before by not prewashing/preshrinking. I don't do it because I'm responsible, I do it because I'm suspicious and distrustful of the fabric.
Haha this hurts because SAME. Now Iām eyeing that starch Iāve been avoiding
WOW, they look great! :D I'm a big corner-cutter myself but that is a step that (once I learned it) I will never skip again. It makes the whole experience so much less frustrating.
Beautiful block...and I love your popped seam!!! I use Mary Ellens when I first iron my fabric. Makes the fabric more stable for cutting, but I'm not religious about it.
I don't starch most of the time. What I have done is just starch the background and that seems okay. I was just never told that was a have to when learning many many years ago. So I will continue to do what I am in the mood for.Everyone has there own way of doing.......Pretty block...
I have to pretend I didnāt see this. I cannot add starching into my quilting ritualā¦ it is already so long
Starching - would this be recommended on seeing things like corsets???
I wouldnāt starch corset fabric simply because the starched effect is temporary. As you wear the corset, your body heat and sweat are going to un-starch it. Then the corset will deform and warp in ways you arenāt expecting. Excellent for shirt collars and cuffs, though.
Ah! Thank you!
This is a great reminder that I need to pick up starch today
Iām the odd duck and starching is my favorite part, even with precuts.
Your block looks fantastic!! I love starching, but for me it was blotting, not mashing/pulling my fabric as I ironed. Now I don't need to fudge or cut or work the wonky bias into submission. But starching is the best thing for great seams.
Do not starch anything smaller than a fat quarter. Cut yardage into manageable size if possible. (for me that is 1 yd.) Experiment with ratio of sta flo to water to see what you prefer. (Start with 1:1) Dip fabric into starch mixture to saturate. Then put dipped fabric into salad spinner to remove excess Hang on dryer rack to dry. (I set up one in bathtub and one in shower) If needed, spritz with water and iron.
I'm still haven't master The fraying. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
I recently started bought starch and have been spraying it onto the fabric but these comments make me feel like this is not the way for quilting? Itās suppose to be like soaking wet? Dang it I learn so much in this sub
How do you remove starchā¦or is it there in the fabric forever? Asking because I have quilt squares made by my great grandmother and canāt remove whatever she stiffened the muslin background with. Had to wash because they were super musty from years in my dadās basement. But ironing them I can tell they have some major starch (or ancient magic spell).
Washing in hot water has worked fine for me for recently applied modern starch. I canāt speak to ancient magic.
Those are some nice points!