Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Kona update

This morning, I picked  up enough Kona Iron & Steel to complete my Roller Rink quilt top.  If you read yesterday you'll remember that I had an issue with the Kona Steel I purchased a few weeks ago, that it was very off-grain and I lost a lot of fabric in order to square it up.


So the question was to mention or not mention it at the quilt shop.  It wasn't their fault, but they might like to know, so I decided to say something.  

It was the strangest thing.  She looked at me like I had three eyes when I described it to her.  She said that she never pays attention to grain and always just cuts from fold to selvedge no matter what.  She didn't even seem to know what I meant by "square up the fabric."  Then I told her that I solved it by making a snip and tearing the fabric from selvedge to selvedge to get the true grain to which she said "oh, you should never tear your fabric."  

Okay then.  Clearly I was not making any sense to her so I bought my fabric and left and will hope for the best.  Honestly, the Steel I bought today, to the naked eye, looks pretty straight, so either what I had before wasn't from this same bolt, or maybe part of the bolt was warped? 

Anyways, onwards and upwards!

13 comments:

Kate said...

What?? A quilt store employee told you not to tear? I'd find someone higher on the food chain there and tell them their cutters don't know what they're doing! (Okay, not really - but it would make me seriously reconsider how often I shopped there.)

Jennifer said...

interesting.. I've had some bolts come in that were off, but usually after a yard or two they figure themselves out. Even if she does "just cut" she would notice it when she went to fold the fabric (speaking from experience on that one hahaha)

Patti said...

Well, she obviously doesn't use the fabric she cuts! I often get asked if I want my fabric cut or ripped.

Susan said...

How interesting? It sounds like the store assistant has little experience with fabric! Does she sew?? ;-)) Good luck with this batch anyway!

Susan said...

Just found this article too- http://www.jinnybeyer.com/info/why-we-tear.cfm
Maybe you could leave a copy discretely at the counter of your LQS!

Adrianne @ On the Windy Side said...

Yeah, sounds like she does not sew. Or maybe she spends a lot of time wondering why her blocks wiggle out of shape? I was taught to square up fabric by holding the fabric up by both selvedges and moving them along until it hangs straight. I'm not sure everyone does this though - lots of my friends just hack into their fabric and it kind of makes me cringe! At least this batch of grey seems to be reasonably straight on grain.

Cathy said...

Good grief! I had this issue this weekend with some fabric i bought years ago. I was not happy because you do end up losing precious inches trying to square up the wonky. I have had fabric stores cut extra to make up for the wonk before.

Annabella said...

Good luck - I hope things go better this time. I understand your frustration.

Katie B said...

Hmm, well that's definitely interesting! I can't believe she didn't know about fabric grain. Maybe she's new?

amy said...

sighhhh. it's sad when ppl don't know about fabric being off grain. i'm very picky about those things, and get REALLY annoyed when prints are PRINTED off grain. that being said, i still don't like fabric tearing, because i've run into issues with quilt shop ppl tearing my fabric and not giving a little extra, so when i needed exact yardage, i actually got shorted. but that's beside the point....off grain fabric is so annoying, and really annoying that she huffed at you for tearing! that's def an "up for debate" subject, not definitive, etc, etc, and doesn't change the fact that the fabric was offgrain. i usually just eyeball the grain when squaring up, but still look for it!!!

Nat at Made in Home said...

Funny it did not seem to matter to her..

Suz J said...

I just had to laugh at your description of how she looked at you... although for some reason my hubby didn't find it all that funny when I read it out to him... I don't know MEN! It does make you wonder about the rest of the world, you know, the rest of the world that doesn't quilt, I mean :0)

Samantha said...

Hi Heather! I thought I would stop by ;) I was super annoyed with some of the fabric I used for my brothers quilt. There was a stripe road print that is printed off grain so it makes my quilt blocks look wonky. Oh well. Glad you found some more! Thanks so all the encouragement on IG :)