Frequently silk quilts were made using silk, satins, velvets and brocades and were embroidered with elaborate stitches, giving them charm and elegance.
Often quilters used more than 100 different embroidery stitches in their silk quilts. Because silk is so delicate (and somewhat difficult to work with), quilters used a lining of thin muslin or cambric, and then sewed the design onto the silk and the lining at the same time.
These days, some quilters use silk for appliqué designs. Because silk frays easily, it is a little more difficult to work with in appliqué.
In a silk quilt I am working on, I am using a very light iron-on interfacing to shape and secure the fabric. Some quilters use heavy paper (like a brown paper bag) to shape the piece.
The paper is cut to the size and shape of the finished piece, the seam allowances are folded around to the back, and then basting stitches are made from one side of the piece to the other across the paper in the back.
One other caution about silk is that sometimes the needle and thread holes from basting will remain long after the basting is removed.
Whenever possible, it is best to use special thin silk pins, and only sew in places you want to have permanent stitching.
Silk batting is also interesting. When I made the cat wall hanging shown below, the only silk batting I could find was 100% silk. It is a mass of silk threads, and doesn't really look like batting at all, and was fairly expensive.
If I had made a full size quilt, I would have quilted it quite a bit to be sure that the batting stayed in place. Since it is hanging on a wall, my quilting stitches are far apart.
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This quilt is made from habotai silk, embroidered with the outline of cats. The sashing is made using silk ties. |
These are partial Dresden Plate blocks made from silk ties.
My original plan was to use silk pieces to fill in between the Plates and piece the entire quilt.
Because the silk is difficult to work with, I will probably applique these onto a larger piece of silk fabric and then sew the blocks together - possibly using a Quilt as You Go type process.
Using a light interfacing (fusible web) helps keep the shape of the pieces. Before I added that, I was frustrated because the silk was slippery and difficult to stitch together.
These are hand pieced - machine piecing was just too difficult; although with the interfacing, sewing these on the machine might be possible.
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| These are Dresden Plate blocks made from silk ties. | After these were sewn together, I decided to add the interfacing. |
Happy Quilting!
Penny Halgren
Master Quilter
