Quilt Makers, can you talk to me about fabric please?

[LRDTheFeministNutcase]

Hi,

I'm very new to this but I've just started making a quilt for my baby niece and I'm really enjoying it. The fabric I've used is plain cotton - a little from a fabric shop near me and some from online (it's Dan Bennett, if you're familiar - really pretty patterns imo). Problem is, even when I have washed the starch out, it doesn't have a very soft texture. If I'm looking online (seems best, shops round here are rubbish!), how do I find nice soft fabric I can quilt with?

Thanks!

Plus I ran out of time to make it any bigger (finished it at 39 weeks pg).

That's a cute picture you describe! I can remember my brother at the same age with a crochet blanket mum made.

Not to be dim, but what size is 'cot sized'?

Cots, not cot beds, are 120 by 60 iirc. I think DS's blanket is 6 x 7 10cm (ish, I used all different yarns so it is a little uneven. Then my bloody mum washed it at 40 and made it worse) squares, plus a border of about 1 cm.

Anywayyyyyy...

The baby won't use the whole cot until about 18mo, and even then, they don't need the whole bed covered, so 60/70 x 80/90 might be about right.

Thanks so much! That is great, I can manage those dimensions.

Really appreciate the help.

And I'll keep my mum away from washing it ....

oh, hello LRD!

I wouldn't worry too much about the top of the quilt not being soft as long as you back it with something that is.
I wouldn't use silk for a baby quilt, as I don't think it would fare too well with repeated washing, as well as it being difficult to sew.

ooh, you're doing 6 pointed stars! How big?

Hi! Nice to 'see' you on this bit of the board.

I didn't make myself very clear with the silk - was really thinking out loud as DH thinks I should make a quilt for us when I finish this one. But I think I'm still not going to try silk; I browsed on the net and it seems though people do make quilts out of it and use them, it'd be a bit of a performance.

The stars are 4 inches across - quite big, but I want it bright and fun rather than subtle and elegant (and, erm, I wasn't sure of my skills on 'subtle'!). I've done 15 stars in colours I'm ahppy with so far ... we'll see how it goes.

OK, my favourite fabric shops: M is for Make www.misformake.co.uk/category/fabric
Fabric Rehab: www.fabricrehab.co.uk/fabric-categories.php
Simply Solids: www.simplysolids.co.uk/
Saints and Pinners: www.saintsandpinners.co.uk/
Seamstar: www.seamstar.co.uk/index.php
Celtic Fusion Fabrics: www.celticfusionfabrics.com/
Sew Me Happy: www.sewmehappy.co.uk/

There's lots more great shops out there, this is just a start. :)