Renata, I love your fabrics. I suspect that these are your choices for the Pepper Cory class?

Renata - Those colors are beautiful! My only advice about color is to follow your heart and trust your instincts. From what I've seen, your instincts are very good!

I try not to let the "preciousness" of the fabric worry me when I'm using it. I figure that if I like the fabric then I have two choices. I can either enjoy and fondle it forever in its "raw" state. Or I can use it to make something I will love even more. It won't become something that I can put on my wall or my couch or my bed or give to someone I love until I cut into it and go for it. And if it doesn't work out as I had hoped (which actually has never happened because I can look past flaws when looking at fabrics I love), then I move onto the next thing that I will love (and I might see if I could pull something apart and scavenge some of that precious fabric!).

Nancy

That is really great advice, Nancy, and I should have known... and you, too, Michelle, for reinforcing that advice... since daiwabo fabric is quite expensive and I have limited amounts of the colors I need with no chance of getting more of it, I was hoping there would be a quick solution to my dilemma.

The weave on one of the fabrics is tight enough that I feel comfortable using it even if I could not starch it (second from the left in the photo). The second fabric (first from the left in the photo) is the one I'm concerned about but I only have a fat quarter of it so I might just have to use it (if a fat quarter turns out to be sufficient). Will let you know what I discover in the process of using it.

These are the fabrics I picked out. I hope the combination works--it's the first time I've picked out fabrics without asking for help. Am I starting to discover my style? or will I make more changes along the way???

Well, Nancy, I think your advice is spot on!! That's exactly what I would do when dealing with any unknown fabric.

Renata, let us know how your experiments work out!!

Hi Renata - I don't know anything about daiwabo fabrics, but here's what I would do. First, test the daiwabo fabric for washability. If you are planning on starching anything, then everything will have to be able to be washed. Then I would take a small piece of the daiwabo fabric and starch it to see how it feels and handles, and also how well the start washes out and whether the starch and washing affects the fabric in any way in the end. If the daiwabo fabric is a loose weave (again, I don't konw anything about it) and the starch doesn't seem to be enough, then I would look at ironing a lightweight interfacing to the back of the fabric to give it more body, like you would with silk or T-shirts. Of course, test to make sure that the daiwabo fabric can be ironed first and see if the interfacing shows through the weave. As always, I would do small tests of anything I thought I might try in the final quilt.

Does that help at all? Isn't it funny to get advice from someone who doesn't know anything about the subject matter???

Nancy

I'm thinking about mixing batiks, printed fabrics and woven daiwabo fabric (NOT the printed daiwabo) into a small quilt that will have sashiko work in some of the squares.

Since I like to starch my fabrics before cutting, can I also starch a daiwabo fabric prior to cutting? It will be mostly used as border fabric. Any advice would be much appreciated!