Hi ,

I've found myself on the bedsheet aisle of Wal-Mart this month, which always reminds me of this podcast episode - Can You Make a Quilt from Bedsheets?

Just in case you'd like my short answer quickly - yes - you can make quilts from bedsheets! I have never personally experienced an issue with using bedsheets for quilt backing or to cut it up for the quilt top.

The trickier (and far more important question) is HOW to cut up a bedsheet to make a quilt because this is a lot harder than you might think. Here's a recent comment from a quilter who realized this herself:

I am just learning to quilt, and I thought that I would practice on bedsheets instead of my good fabric since I don’t know how to use a rotary cutter and mat yet. I am having the worst time getting the fabric straight. I’ve watched many tutorials that show how to pull a thread to find the straight of grain and I did that on my sheet but when I folded it in two, and set the ruler on it to cut strips I got elbows at the fold line. 

 

I think my sheet is just too loosely woven. So I was hoping that when I got to the real Quilting fabric that it would be more densely woven & that would make it easier to straighten and cut on grain. But it sounds like that’s not the case from listening to you talk about densely woven sheets, which is very discouraging. If I can’t get the strips cut straight, there’s not much chance of me being able to sew a decent quilt top. 

Here's my response to this question posted to YouTube:

I recommend ripping the sheets into much smaller, manageable pieces. While this might seem wasteful, it's definitely going to make it easier to handle! 

Take a tape measure and rip 24 inch wide strips. Then rip those strips into 30 inch long rectangles. A 24 x 30 inch rectangle is going to be SO much easier to work with and to firm up the fabric, apply starch, massage, flip it over, then press with a hot, dry, iron. 

Don't get discouraged - learning how to make a quilt is a marathon, not a sprint. Here's a little project to make to help you press and learn more about pressing fabric to add stability - Click Here to learn how to build a firm pressing board.

And YES, starching and pressing is the key to getting softer, looser fabrics to behave. Get it stiff as paper and you'll be able to cut it accurately.

So ultimately it doesn't matter if the bedsheet material is densely woven or loosely woven. If you rip the bedsheet into smaller pieces AND starch and press until the material is easy to work with, you'll have fabric that's easier to work with and can be cut up accurately to make beautiful quilts.

Of course this brings up the topic of starch and no matter how many times I say it, I'll say it yet again:

• No, starch does not attract bugs. Cotton, wool, and all natural materials are yummy to bugs with or without the starch. Adding starch does not make your quilt more likely to be chewed up because:
• Starch washes out. After making your quilt, wash it and remove the starch. Even if the bug fear was real, starch washes out, leaving a beautifully pieced quilt no more or less attractive to bugs than a quilt made without starch.
• Starch is cheap. The reason starch has the scary bug-attracting reputation? A starch-alternative business wanted quilters to buy expensive smelly sizing instead. Rumors got started and... Sigh...

Starch is widely available and cheap. I've been using the Niagara brand spray starch sold at my local grocery store for around $5 a bottle for years, but it recently got re-formulated (and the price increased) and now requires 2-3 coats to get as stiff as I like for quilting.

It takes a lot of time to starch and press fabric so I went searching for an alternative and now use this starch concentrate. With this starch nicely mixed, I only have to starch and press one time to achieve the desired stiffness to accurately cut my fabric.

I mix this in a spray bottle and fill 50% with starch and 50% with water. This is a very concentrated mix, so I make sure to always follow these starching steps:

1. Spray the starch on one side of the fabric
2. Massage the liquid into the material
3. Flip the fabric over to the opposite side and press

If you skip the steps to massage and flip the fabric, especially with a concentrated starch mixture, you will experience the starch flaking off in white, crispy flakes which get everywhere. Gross.

So follow the steps! Give starching a chance! If you see a bedsheet set that yells your name, pick it up and consider slicing it up to create your next quilt. With the money saved on material, you can focus on improving your sewing machine table, and this just happens to be a great month for that:

Free Kiwi Cabinet with Kangaroo & Joey Sewing Table

Yes, you can get a free Kiwi cabinet with your Kangaroo and Joey sewing table this month. This setup will make piecing and quilting your quilts feel so much easier.

Click Here to learn more about this Sewing Table.

As you can see, this is a really big sewing table! The Kangaroo and Joey is one of the most popular Arrow Sewing Cabinets for a reason: it gives you the space you need exactly where you need it. 

The table surface extends in multiple directions, but you can collapse the cabinet down to a tidy size when you're not sewing:

The open Kangaroo Sewing Cabinet dimensions are: 71½” wide x 40½” deep x 29½ high. When closed, this table is only: 57 3/8” wide x 21” deep x 29½ high.

I've gotta say, I love my little Kiwi cabinet! This is the perfect cabinet to place next to your sewing machine to hold thread, bobbins, feet, needles and all the handy notions that clutter up our sewing tables. It comes with a pressing board and small cutting mat as well so you can conveniently trim and press blocks between seams.

This month, a $699 Kiwi cabinet is included for free with Kangaroo and Joey sewing cabinets. Click Here to check it out today.

Easter Sewing Sale

Just in case you're in a mood to sew, I've our Easter themed projects on sale this month. These are great sewing skill builders and will help you decorate for Easter in style:

Click Here to find the Easter Basket Pattern for $4.99.

The best part about seasonal sewing is you get to make the project now in anticipation for the holiday. Each year after, you can pull out your Easter Basket to display for the season, a reminder of the year you made it. 

Make sure to date the bottom of your Easter basket and maybe add a kind note to yourself too. I think of this as getting a hug from my past self in the future and it always makes me smile.

The Mally Doll Pattern and Ms. Bunny Doll Pattern are also on sale for $5.99 each. The clothes are interchangeable so you can make T-shirts and pants for your Ms. Bunny or a dress for Mally.

That's it for this week, my quilting friend. Have you ever made a quilt from a bedsheet before? I'd love to see it and share it in next week's newsletter so reply to this email and send me a picture!

Let's go quilt,

Leah Day