Rag Quilt Tutorials with Raewyn Stewart

Hi everyone, a question for fellow quilters.

How do you store your finished quilts?
Any dos and don’ts we should know about when storing them long term?

P.S. Not my cupboard unfortunately… I wish it was! R x

Fabric names? They don’t travel well across borders!

When I launched The Caterpillar Club in 2022, one of the first things I noticed was how differently fabrics are named around the world. The same fabric can go by completely different names depending on where you live, and if you’re following tutorials or patterns from another country, that can get confusing fast.
So here’s how our New Zealand names stack up against what you’ll likely find in the US:

What we call Homespun here (a 100% woven cotton, I use the Spotlight brand), you’ll know as Quilter’s Cotton.

Our Flannelette is your Flannel, particularly the 112cm wide version.

Our Calico is your Muslin. I also use Calico occasionally as a middle layer when I can’t find a flannelette colour to match, and the unbleached version when I want an antique look. It rags beautifully and goes incredibly soft after washing and drying.

And here’s one that trips people up: our Muslin is not your Muslin! Ours is a lightweight gauze, very soft, commonly used for baby wraps.

I was lucky enough to be able to compare these side by side, thanks to my friend Amy Limbacher from Amy's Modern Fray, who kindly sent me a selection of US fabric swatches so I could see the differences for myself.

One thing that needs no translation though? Gutermann 100% Polyester thread. Consistent quality wherever you are in the world. 😉
I hope this helps if you’ve ever been puzzled reading an international pattern or tutorial. R

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