I changed my mind…

I had previously settled on a 42″ wide  black Kona cotton that I would have to piece. After running across this 108″ wide cotton sateen, I quickly changed my mind. This sateen not only has a slight sheen that will show off the quilting detail , but now, I will not have to think about hiding any seams!  The Kona cotton will not go to waste- I can use it on my “Zen quilts on the Dark Side”.

There is a right side and a back side to sateen. If you look closely, the weave is more prominent on the back side. If you hold it on an angle in better lighting, you can see a sheen that is more prominent on the front side and this side also looks smoother.

After washing and drying a 2″x6″ swatch of the fabric I found that it did not shrink but some of the original sheen was lost. Therefor, I decided not to wash this fabric to preserve that sheen. I know- I am always advocating for washing! But, I had to consider several points- This will strictly be a show quilt, it  is not a quilt that will be used or cuddled, so no need to worry about sizing affecting anyone. Also, the fabric is very soft and does not have enough sizing to interfere with thread tension or stitch quality.This fabric did not shrink so no need to worry about that. If you check back in my previous blog about the backing I chose, it is also a black batik fabric. If there was any chance of the sateen black dye bleeding , it would not show on this black batik. However, I did rinse a swatch and blot it between white paper toweling and saw no evidence of color bleeding.

So I am safe with my decision not to wash and happy that I have the prerogative to change my mind!