(Am I showing my age or just my love for Mary Poppins with that title?) But bamboo is one of the natural fibres that is used for waddings. Now, I’ll start by saying that I love bamboo so when Vlieseline offered me some to review, I jumped at the chance.
In preparation for the Festival of Quilts I was asked by the owner of Black Mountain Fabric to design a quilt for her to sell as a kit at her stand. The fabric for the kit idea was Reflections, from Lewis and Irene, and comes in three different colour ways; reds, purples or blues. The main design has dragonflies on a colourful flora background. As it is a larger design I decided that it needed a larger square to display the lovely pattern. I went for a Variable Star block, divided by sashing which suited this purpose. The quilt could easily be made larger by adding additional blocks. But let’s talk about the wadding.
Bamboo is actually a mix of 50% bamboo and 50% cotton. It was easy to layer up, not too much bearding (when loose fibres get all over everything the wadding touches) and was easy to quilt. I practiced my free motion with an all over loose feather design which is perfect for covering a large area in a rapid quilt design. I used a variegated thread which matched the colours from yellow to a deeper red. The open feather design also suited the suggested quilt spacing of 10 to 20cm which was easy to achieve. The needle slipped through the quilt nicely with again, no bearding.
The finished quilt draped beautifully and the wadding is ideal for all manner of items from quilts to clothing. I’ve used this before in quilts which I have in my caravan, so they get used a lot. On the bed, as picnic blankets, in cold and hot weather and it has worn really well. I think my next project may have to be a quilted jacked which have become popular recently. Bamboo is also breathable, the reason they use it for sports wear these days and keeps you cool in summer and warm in winter. Vlieseline bamboo remains one of my favourite waddings and can be found in all good craft suppliers.
If you would like the quilt kit you can contact Black Mountain Fabric for more details.
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