Friday 14 November 2014

The same but not the same - the quest for the perfect gold fabric

My first trial on gold foil fabric just happened, by chance, to be on the perfect gold fabric - the remains of a fat quarter that I had bought locally. Cotton backed, it didn't fray, cut well into the smallest sliver, quilted like a dream, did not split, had a lovely soft handle and was a beautiful rich colour gold. It's only imperfection was it appeared no longer to be available - not locally, not on any quilting shop website nationally or internationally. I sourced, bought and tried about 6 other gold foil fabrics, none of which came up to the standard of my first.

Then, a friend of a friend sent me a fat quarter that she had found at the FOQ in Birmingham. Yes, this was it, the real deal, my original super-duper fabric!! I rang up the supplier (Bramble Patch UK for any one interested). Yes, they had it in stock. No they didn't always have it, couldn't always get it and couldn't say when or why they would/wouldn't have it. So even though it was quite expensive, I bought 10 meters - AND IT IS NOT THE SAME!!


Hilary Florence Quilting Workshop - free motion quilting on metallic fabric trials


It is close, much closer than the others. It is cotton backed, it does cut well and doesn't fray. The colour is the identical rich gold. It is the handle that is different. It feels like there is a thicker layer of plastic over the gold making it much stiffer. Where as my original and the fat quarter sent by my friend, handled like any other fabric, this is more like a plastic table cloth. It tends to drag and pucker a bit when quilting.

So, I've been trying to adapt to it - after all, I now have 10 meters to use!

Hilary Florence Quilting Workshop - free motion quilting on metallic fabric trials

I think what works the best is to alternate very dense with more open patterns.

Hilary Florence Quilting Workshop - free motion quilting on metallic fabric trials

Hilary Florence Quilting Workshop - free motion quilting on metallic fabric trials

Thanks for visiting...

Hilary Florence


Please find below a list of linky parties. I may not link with all of the every week, but with some of them most weeks. Please go and have a look at some of the other wonderful quilts and quilters there.

Linky Tuesday at Free motion by  the river­­­­ @ http://www.conniekresin.com/
WIP Wednesday at freshly pieced   @   http://www.freshlypieced.com/
WIP Wednesday at TN + TN  @  http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/
I Quilt Thursdays @ http://prettybobbins.com/
Off the wall Fridays @ http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.co.uk/

13 comments:

  1. By looking at it, only you would know the difference. Ten meters is a lot, so iI hope you can find a lot of uses for it. As always, I love your FMQ.

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  2. Well it looks good,though it sounds like it's more of a challenge to use. 10 metres should keep you busy for a while.

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  3. I'm so sorry it wasn't quite the same!!! The quilting looks great though, so hopefully you can get some use out of it!

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  4. Oh my gosh, what a lovely combination of fabric and stitching. It looks like hammered gold from an ancient Egyptian treasure. I'd have been scared to death working on that shimmery fabric, but maybe this will give me the nerve to do it. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  5. The quilting looks amazing on the gold. With 10 meters of it we should be seeing lots of stitching on gold.

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  6. It''s too bad when companies change their products but sell them as the same; however, your quilting is beautiful, and I'm sure you'll make those 10 meters truly shine!

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  7. This is looking fabulous Hilary, nobody would guess it gave you the slightest problem. All I can think of when I see it is Sutton Hoo. With 10 metres you will have to start some sort of series.

    Thank you for linking up with Free Motion Mavericks.

    Love, Muv

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  8. Ten meters of stuff you don't like, what a challenge! (I agree with the comment above that companies should not switch products while keeping the same description.) You are adapting well to the change, though; the quilting looks good, as always.

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  9. Hilary, I know I say this every time, but you are a wonderful quilter! The quilting on gold is beautiful!

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  10. It is too bad it isn't the same Florence but.......your quilting on it is beautiful!

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  11. Divine - looks sumptuous and opulent. I especially love the tree shapes!

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  12. Oh, boo! What a disappointment but it LOOKS glorious ! Enjoy it anyway. If you did not say anything, no one would EVER suspect you were displeased.

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  13. It looks fabulous! So sorry it is not what you were hoping for.

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