Likely you have used the letter-size printable fabric sheets available in many stores and online. These have improved in quality dramatically since first introduced. And yet, some home printers just do not give you the vibrant colors you expected. And even if they do you are sort of stuck with making your quilt squares under 8 inches in size, given seam allowance. As well, unless you actually buy a pack to try, you don't know the feel or quality of the fabric until printed and the paper backing is pulled off.

Note: we are not talking transfer (iron-on) sheets but actual cotton or silk to sew together.

Prices vary on these packs of sheets, and the number of sheets in the packs vary too. Ball-park cost of a single printable sheet ranges from about $1.25 - $2.25 depending on the brand and the store. In this price range there are few choices of fabric, and as noted, you don't know the quality. If you shop online at specialty shops, you can get several options of fabric - percale, broadcloth, sateen, and more at approximately the same price range per sheet.

The biggest factor in determining the actual cost of printing a sheet like this, in full color, is the cost of ink. Ink cartridges can be quite pricey and dfficult to determine how much ink is used on a print. Printers vary, brands vary. But rule of thumb is a letter size page in full color the ink will cost between 75 cents and a couple dollars. This will bring your cost to print a page to between $2 and $4.50.

Advantages of having us print for you

1) COLOR. The printer is a commercial printer that gives accurate color. What is on the monitor will be what is on the print.

2) SIZE . Perhaps the most important, you are not limited in the size of your quilt squares. You can have larger sizes. You can have a print as large as 43 inches wide by 5 or 6 feet long to cut, or to back and quilt.

3) ARCHIVAL INK - Although most home printers today use pigment ink, perhaps you have an older printer which uses older ink formulas. Our archival inks will not fade quickly and are washable with care.

4) MORE FABRIC CHOICES- Linen and silk broadcloth offered, with more options (inquire)

The quilt on the left was sewn together with individual prints of each photo, each about 16 inches square. On the right, this quilt is a composite print of several photos put into one printing file measuring 36x48 inches.   The cotton and linen fabrics are 44 inches wide, and can be printed up to 6 or 7 feet long. Silk fabrics are 42 inches wide. Sometimes someone asks for silk for a decorative quilt they are making. One of my fondest memories as a child was a silk quilt Grandma Nelsen made for me from men's silk neckties. She had cut squares from the ties, made them into triangles and stuffed them with batting of some kind. A beautiful thing.

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