You’ve got to be sheeting me. ?

Wanna make you local quilt group bananas? Just say you are going to put a bed sheet on the back of a quilt and watch them go apeshit. Why tho? Why so dramatic? Some sheets are so soft…fresh sheet night is my favorite nite (reminds self to turn over laundry).

They are just fabric, and appealingly priced.
The reason is the thread count. An average quilting cotton is 100-200 threads per inch weave. A needle actually separates the thread as it makes a stitch. Batiks have a higher, finer count of 250 or more and are notorious for the needle punching a hole vs separating the threads.

So, magnify this issue to the average sheet thread count. Some of the softest sheets are in the 5-700 range. So, it can be done, but not undone..you’ll have wee holes. And if your wee holes are too close together, it is like perforation and will tear easily later.

If you do use them,

1️⃣a longer stitch will be better and

2️⃣a sharp, thin needle. A ball needle will sound like firecrackers as it breaks the threads, which also causes chaos with the stitch appearance and leads to batting migration through the holes.

3️⃣cut off all pre sewn seams to avoid poor tension.

4️⃣ prewash everything! Different thread count means different rates of shrinkage.

5️⃣ when someone tells you your quilt is great, say “thank you” and don’t confess unless you just enjoy arguing.

??

What are you doing??? Quilt tips Bethanne??

Yea. So here’s the thing. Instagram and Facebook are no fun. They are gatekeeping and making sure they are 110% just an advertising platform. More and more of my fun and educational posts are hidden every day. Also…I don’t love blogging. But I can make sure my fun posts appear somewhere besides on social…so here we go!

It is critically important to me, and the success of my business (which is teaching plus quilting tools) that you let me at least tell you about stuff. I get that you aren’t going to be in a position to buy stuff all the time. I also get that you dont want your email addresses abused. I TOTALLY agree. But…if you want to support me or any other maker…get on their newsletters. Other traditional venues are dying and being changed by their mega-mind owners to do one thing and one thing only. Sell advertising. So.. please…click the newsletter button!