Know your fabric: quilting cottons

“Quilting Cotton” – in the quilting industry, cotton sheeting is the quintessential base fabric for piecing and patchwork. It has a close, even weave and plenty of structure. In terms of weight, cotton sheeting weighs around 120-135 gsm. Almost every Japanese manufacturer offers prints on a base of cotton sheeting in their collection.

Other base fabrics that can be used in quilting projects include:

Broadcloth (also known as poplin) – similar to sheeting in weight and appearance, broadcloth has a tight weave and a very smooth surface; it offers less stretch and a more crisp hand than sheeting. (Think of commercial cotton batik fabrics in this category.) Sevenberry is the brand that we carry that offers the most broadcloth prints.

Cotton shirting – shirting, in general, is lighter in weight than sheeting. It is woven from finer threads than sheeting. The Japanese brands of cotton shirting are high quality, often with dense thread counts, and can be used in quilting projects. Fine shirting-weight fabrics come from Vancet, Textile Pantry and Hishiei; but many other manufacturers also have shirtings.

Image: AP-1310 cotton sheeting from Cosmo, small prints on dark navy base cloth