New to me fabric substrates

I'm a quilter. And, as a quilter, I use quilting cotton fabrics when making a quilt. I use cotton fabrics for the quilt top, backing, and binding and always use 100% cotton batting sandwiched inside of the quilt. Quilting cotton is a light to medium weight woven fabric that usually has a print on one side and, you guessed it, is made of cotton. It doesn't stretch. It's drapey and has a smooth texture.  That being said, however, I am aware that other fabric substrates exist on the market. Jersey, lawn, voile, corduroy, poplin, batik (like quilting cotton but with a denser weave,) gauze, silks, taffeta, organza, flannel, velveteen and canvas just to name a few.

Fabrics from the new Wonderland line by Katarina Roccella for Art Gallery. From left to right: Cheshire Feathers in canvas,  X Your Heart Pure in knit and Enchanted Leaves in Plum in voile. 

I have voiles, knits and canvas prints in my stash. Voile makes for a lovely, silky smooth quilt backing. Knits are perfect for clothing (think t-shirts and yoga pants!) And canvas makes great tote bags. I had never had any voile, knit or canvas from Art Gallery Fabrics so I chose some prints from one of my favorite designer's, Katarina Roccella, new line Wonderland to test them.

The whole tone of this post is cracking me up because I'm suggesting that I'm doing this as a service to humanity to test out some new substrates. Like I'm taking it on as an important and serious job and reporting to you on my findings. Ha! I think we all know that any excuse for new fabric is good enough for me. The fact that these are truly quite lovely is just icing on the cake. The canvas is hefty like you'd expect canvas to be but more fluid than any other brand I've ever purchased. I don't know . . . it's hefty like a canvas but drapey and loose if that makes sense. The knit is soft and stretchy  . . . um . . . so kind of like the weight and soft texture of footie pajamas made for infants and newborns as opposed to the knit used by Old Navy for a long sleeved t-shirt. Are you getting me?  And the voile is very similar to any other voile I've ever bought . . . smooth like buttah.

I really took one for the team here. I got new fabric all in the name of research. I did it for you.

-dana

P.S. If you're interested in seeing more of this beautiful Wonderland fabric line, be sure to visit all the stops on the blog tour.

1. ERICA TOOLE - October 5th

2. LAURA SCARAMELLA of SIMPLE LIFE COMPANY – October 6th

3. DANA BOLYARD - October 7th

4. RACHAEL GANDER - October 8th

5. HEATHER and MEG of QUILT STORY - October 9th

6. JOELLEN KEMPER of SEW ILLUMINATED - October 10th

7. STACY BARRETT of a VINTAGE FAIRYTALE - October 11th

8. ERICA JACKMAN - October 12th

9. KATHLEEN RIGGINS - October 13th

10. MARIJA VUJČIĆ - October 14th

11. SVETLANA SOTAK - October 15th

12. KYLIE KELSHEIMER of FAITH LOVE FABRIC - October 16th

13. ALEXIS WRIGHT of MY SWEET SUNSHINE - October 17th

14. MICHELLE WILKIE - October 18th

15. HEMAMALINI - October 19th

16. LYNNE GOLDSWORTHY - October 20th