PEPPERED COTTON, aka shot cotton.......

Recently I discovered ‘shot cotton’, specifically PEPPERED COTTONS by Pepper Cory for StudioE.  So what’s so great about shot cottons? Well, pretty much everything if you like working with solid colors, such as Kona, Bella, or Free Spirit Solids which I do.  Except shot cotton give you more bang for your design buck.  The nearest quilt shop carrying the line is Erica’s in South Bend, so a road trip was in order last week with a couple Quilting BFF’s.  I snapped up a nice pre-packaged group of fat quarters, and filled in with a few additional colors for a project I’ve had swirling around in my mind for some time.  Aren’t these yummy, so earthy and textural?!

 

Shot cottons give the sense of solid color with additional texture and surface interest.  According to Pepper Cory they are “100% shot cotton fabrics that almost fall into the solid color category.  The term ‘shot’ means that the weft is “shot through” the warp, but uses a discernibly different color thread. Because the warp (lengthwise threads) and the weft (side to side threads) are different colors, the resulting shades are muted and variable combinations of the original colors. For instance, a black warp thread plus a blue weft thread woven together makes for a very dark blue such as Ink color# 45. When a fabric like Ink is viewed from different angles, the blues and blacks produce subtly different visual effects. Above all, shot cottons have a tactile hand-woven quality and display deep colors well since all threads are dyed prior to weaving. There is no wrong or right side to shot cottons--a plus for quilt-makers."  

If you pull a few threads from the side you'll see the warp and weft colors are different.  Hopefully you can see the effect in this photo of scraps.  Once woven, shot cottons are then washed, dried, and finally 'calendared' which is essentially adding heat, or pressing which gives the finish a nice subtle sheen until you wash again.  The fabrics have a lovely soft hand which should be nice for hand quilting whereas solids can be a bit thick and cumbersome for handwork.  

 

Different color and different content such as poly warp and cotton warps and wefts are not new in the textile world.  Woven fabrics for apparel, residential, contract office, healthcare, hospitality and specialty-innovative fabrics have been woven this way forever. For the quilter it opens up a whole new world of surface design since most quilting fabrics are printed on solid white cotton, or solids that are piece dyed after weaving.  We are lucky to have these design options.  I'm busy working on a new project....stay tuned for an update later.