disintegrating threads

[sandylachowski]

I've had a longarm business for 14 years and just had a first. A customer

called and said she had a quilt that I had done 4 years ago for her grandson and

the threads were "disintegrating". My initial reaction was 4 years ago??? How

in the world could I know how the quilt had been cared for during that time. I

was pretty upset but knowing that reputation is everything in this business, I

told her to bring it by and I would look at it and try to figure out what had

happened. I was thinking that some threads here and there may have broken due

to use and abuse. She came over today and Wow! what a mess this quilt was.

Disintegrating was an appropriate word for what was happening to the thread. It

was everywhere, not just a few breaks. The breaks were not at the starts and

stops but in the middle of the design work. My first thought was a cat maybe had

clawed it but she said there were no animals in the house. I'm sure I used a

Signature 100% cotton thread. Could a cone of thread be so weird that this might

happened but what was wrong with the thread? One other thought, and I'd love to

get some feedback on this...The quilt is a snowball pattern. The main snowball

areas are made of a loosely woven flannel. The triangles of the snowballs are a

standard cotton fabric. There is a sash of cotton fabric and the border is the

loosely woven flannel. The thread breaks seemed to be only within that flannel.

Could the flannel be stretching so much that the threads break? I know if there

is tension issues when sewing a seam that if the seam is pulled, the thread will

burst and that is very similar to what is happening on this quilt. My customer

is going to rip out the stitching and I will re-quilt if free of charge. I'm

mystified. Any thoughts?

Sandy Lachowski

Gammill Classic Plus

Bend, OR

[LadyLake]

What type of quilting design did you do?

[Quilting Heidi]

Sandy wow that is odd. Is any of the fabric damaged in any way? If that were the case I'd say it could be a detergent issue. You analysis of the flannel stretching could be right on. You can definitely break threads like that.

[ffq-lar]

Wow.

Cotton thread, being organic as opposed to poly thread, will deteriorate due to heat, sunlight, and wear/friction. If none of the surrounding cotton fabric shows signs of wear, fading, or abrasion, the thread might have been weak/old when you purchased it. But how could there be enough stress on the quilt to snap the threads? Could you gently ask what kind of the wear this quilt has endured? If it's used as a snuggle quilt with someone constantly wrapped up tightly in it, the threads on the stretchy flannel could be compromised. No way a quilt on a bed used as a regular cover could get enough hard treatment to snap threads.

You are a making a generous decision to re-quilt it--good from a business standpoint and also for your own peace of mind.

How about using a cotton-finish poly to re-quilt? And a talk with your customer about careful handling so this treasure will last.

[sandylachowski]

The quilting in the area that is damaged is just an open spiral design. Nothing fancy or tight. The quilt has definitely been used and it looks like it's been washed. The fabric seems to be in good shape though. Supposedly, it's been on the back of a couch, not on a bed. I've never run a cotton poly in my Gammill but if you think that might be a better choice, then I could try it. She's quite understanding about my Christmas rush so she said she won't bring it in to me until Janurary. I'm just trying to get my thoughts in order. I don't mind re-doing this but I want it to last this time.

[Zora]

It could very well be defective thread. Combined with the stretchy flannel, age, washing, etc....its the reason I don't use cotton thread. A good qulaity poly thread, like Superior...will outlive the quilt fabric.

[newmillie2010]

Folded over the back of a couch ... imagine the curving of the quilt over that back ... stretched a bit on both sides of the couch ... rearranged occasionally ... maybe some sunlight, doesn't have to be strong .... 4 years of this ... yes, i can see some stitching popping, especially with that flannel curving over the back of the couch. then people sitting against it. hmmm. interesting. I wouldn't requilt totally free of charge. Charge a minimum fee to let her know that this is a business for you. This 'damage' wasn't your fault and you needn't take the whole brunt for redoing the stitching.

[sandylachowski]

After I had a few days to calm down, I went over to my customers house to look at the damaged quilt again. I should have called the fabric used a loose woven Homespun plaid, not flannel. The backing is also the homespun plaid. There are small setting triangles of muslin type cotton as well as the small cotton sash. More than likely it has Hobbs 80/20 batting. She doesn't think the quilt has been washed much, but as crinkly as it is, I'm sure it has been washed several times over the years. I gently pulled on the plaid areas and, yes indeed, the threads burst. The sashing areas did not react that way. They were also quilted with a different thread. I'm going to get some of this homespun plaid fabric and make a small quilt using the cotton Signature thread. I'll quilt with the same spiral design. I'll push and pull on it and see what happens, then wash it a couple times and see if there is any breakdown in the thread. I will also quilt an area with the poly blend and see what happens with that. I've done many quilts with this type of fabric so this is all so confusing but I need to understand what went wrong so it doesn't happen again. I live in a tight knit community and there are a ton of longarmers in my area. I'm not thrilled about redoing this for free but competition is tough here and I need to keep my friendly, professional reputation going. With two kids in college, debt free, I need all the work I can get. I can't take a chance on loosing one customer. I understand that with clothing, after 4 years of wear and tear, there will be fabric and thread breakdown. Quilts are different. People call them heirlooms. They are passed down from generation to generation. They are looked at differently than other fabric items. Maybe it's delusional but that is still how people think. People think they will last forever. If anyone has any other thoughts on what may have happened, I'd love to hear them.

Sandy Lachowski