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Shot Cotton

October 10, 2021 4 Comments

Back when we used to be able to wander through quilt shows, I found myself drawn to a special type of quilting fabric – it’s called Shot Cotton, and it’s the “green” fabric I used in my nephew Josiah’s quilt.

Most of the cotton fabrics quilters use begin as a white fabric that is dyed or printed to make all the beautiful bolts we are so infatuated with. However, Shot cotton is special because the warp and weft yarns are 2 different colors woven together to create a special depth, a “shot” of color. When the edge of this fabric ravels, you can see a bright contrast to the body of the fabric.”

These fabrics are woven using cotton thread which is dyed in small batches. Variations in color and small imperfections in the weaving are a natural part of the process. Here’s an even closer view:

The really exciting part for me in learning more about shot cottons, was learning how to get a really close up “shot” with my iphone. After a bit of searching the internet I discovered that my phone has a magnifier app.

and I can take photographs in that app. This is a close up of my necklace as seen in the magnifier app:

By sliding the yellow dot I’m able to achieve a very good magnification and… by touching the “X” I can take a photo of the image and save it to Photos. We’re always learning 😊!

Back to the shot cottons. They actually do have a bit of a sheen and the colors are beautiful. Have you worked with them? Do you have any in your stash? Perhaps you don’t even realize it.

We tend to buy the fabrics that tickle our fancy and often we don’t even know about these interesting details. I hope you found it as interesting as I did.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Barb Jordan says

    October 10, 2021 at 1:40 pm

    I looked it up,on Amazon and Kaffe has a stack of it for sale. Very interesting. Tempting !

    Reply
  2. Kim says

    October 11, 2021 at 6:34 am

    I have worked with them before, and love the slight difference in color(s) as opposed to working with solids. Wish they came in more colors! Many years ago, there were a few available that had wide (9″) bands of color within the bolt. I only have a bit of those left, and sure would buy again if I ever saw them.

    Reply
  3. Cindy Unruh says

    October 11, 2021 at 2:22 pm

    I first heard of it in Scotland on a Kilts and Quilts tour I took. Oak Shot is what I believe they called it. It’s has black as one of the weaved cottons. I have a stack of jewel tone fat quarters. I’ve found some more over the years and added to my stash. I just haven’t found quite the right pattern for it yet. Might need to put it out and refresh my memory on what I have.

    Reply
  4. Linda says

    October 17, 2021 at 8:03 pm

    Thanks for posting this about shot cotton. Didn’t know anything about it. Also didn’t know about the magnifier on our phones

    Reply

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