What's the best black for applique background?

Does the quilt you are planning come under the heading 'This is a very Serious Occasion' sort of quilt or would you consider one that was something with a little bit of a kick? There's a black in my stash that has just the tiniest pinpoints of primary colors. The quality of this one is great but the selvedge with its name is long gone. I'll hunt its ancestry if you are interested. Polly

I really like the Amish black from Keepsake, but I don't hand quilt. I suppose it might be considered thick...or at least, it's definitely not too thin. If you want to send me your address, I'm happy to send you a small sample of it.

-Lynn

m> What, in your experience, is the best solid black fabric for the

IIRC Polly Ester has been using the Kona Bay white as her favorite white because she finds other brands of white to be too thin. Debra in VA See my quilts at

Second that - very very very hard, even in daylight!

And black is not kind to colours in a design either. It can really "flatten" the colours put on it under some circumstances. I used to use a lot of black in my quilts but now hardly any, and that is black-on-black prints or marbles. For a background how about Moda Marble Jet - blacker than the black marble but not QUITE flat black. Or a very dark navy or aubergine or really deep dark green. I have used all these from the Moda Marble range and love them. NAYY

I don't think it's all that bad. In fact given a choice I would much rather handquilt black than white. Maybe I just have wierd eyeballs.

Not much help on the topic I fear. I use so much black that I have dedicated a fair bit of time to learning to dye it well. All I can offer would be procion jet black on your even weave of choice, I prefer 4-4.5 ounce. I just find even weave fabrics easier to use for applique backgrounds, and anything under 4 ounces too thin for really good quilt fabric. YMMV

NightMist

Mmmmm, yes. Debra. But just because Kona Bay white is lovely doesn't mean that Kona Bay black would be fine too. It's a reasonable expectation but maybe not a certainty. Also, I don't handquilt- unless of course you've been hankering for a handquilted pincushion and I might be up to one of them. Polly

Third! Especially if you're using black thread on the black fabric. Ack!

I agree. A solid black is boring, too. I love the black Moda Marbles -- of course I love the Moda Marbles, period.

That's probably very true, because I have found the texture of black and navy fabric - in anything, not just quilting cotton, to be harsher than any other colour. It takes some searching to get a soft one. . In message , Polly Esther writes

Kona Bay is very good quality fabric. The prints are generally Oriental and wonderful. (Kona Bay puts out Asian Fabrics magazine I do believe.) Kona cotton is definitely coarser than Kona Bay, probably easier to hand quilt through. I have heard wonderful things about both the Amish black and the Michael Miller black. I would suggest getting a fat quarter of each to try out before making a purchase of that much fabric.

Pati, > Mmmmm, yes. Debra. But just because Kona Bay white is lovely doesn't mean

I thought perhaps you had used the black as well as the white, and couldn't remember if you hand or machine quilted. This does bring up a question though. Have you run across fabrics that fell far short of the expectation you had because it was a certain brand? Debra in VA See my quilts at

Oh, Mz Polly, I would even settle for a 6" square handquilted by you and I would even let YOU choose what you wanted to hand quilt for me. Will look LOVELY right next to a 'WUH' that someone else on here handquilted for me....gonna have a RCTQ area in the newest Butterfly Studio. .... so anyone else that wants to add to it you're most welcome.

Butterfly (Beggars can't be choosers ; but they sure can be grateful and sure can do a bit of bragging as to where the 'begged items' came from : )