Quilting

[jess.gorey]

Has anyone cut multiple pieces of cotton fabric, stacked, for quilting? I would be interested to know how many pieces of fabric and settings.

[dklgood]

It is not a good idea to stack multiple layers of materials. The air inbetween layers is fuel for flare ups and fire is to be avoided.

[rbtdanforth]

@jess.gorey

pieces of cotton fabric,

Pure cotton fabric is a problem as it will flame easier and will not seal where cotton and polyester will melt the polyester and keep the fabric from unravelling. It will however stick all the layers together.

[laughingmoonleather]

Not to beat a dead horse here, but not a great idea. It may seem more efficient, however your kinda just throwing kindling under your laser doing this.

[tjones]

[deirdrebeth]

Yeah, what they said about stacking - but as for the rest of the cutting fabric for quilting question, the answer is a definite yes!

Cutting Fabric with a Seklema Mat

I purchased the 12x24 inch Seklema mat. I trimmed it to 20 inches (surprise, its not a true 24!) It fits nicely in the crumb tray. I used a 100% quilting cotton and the fusible is Soft Fuse, very light weight and thin. I used the set focus tool and my settings were as follows. Speed 500 Precision Power 80 It cut quickly with no flare ups. The mat is cut as well but just slightly almost hard to tell unless you look closely. VERY pleased with the results I also cut fusible…

[jess.gorey]

I am sorry, I saw a video sponsored by joann fabrics of people putting in multiple places of cotton at a time, so I figured it was safe.

Glowforge 3D Laser Printer cuts hundreds of materials, including fabric!

[dklgood]

Thanks for sharing this video. I think Glowforge/Joann is asking for trouble with this.

[deirdrebeth]

They were definitely right there watching at least!

[kayla.grant]

I’ve cut 5 layers of quilting cotton at a time. worked fine and the singed edge prevents the material from shredding. Carolyn friedlander fabric bundle with cotton kona solids. Made an entire quilt. I used magnets to hold the fabric down. The third quilt I cut created a jig from the pattern to hold it down.

[dklgood]

Welcome to the forum.

Although it is obviously possible to cut multiple layers of material at once, it is a known fire hazard as air trapped between layers can be problematic. Always be close to your machine when doing this, and be aware that strong magnets placed incorrectly can interfere with the air assist fan speed and cause air assist fan errors.

[Helene]

Using a Jig to hold the fabric down is an interesting idea.
For an example, lets say we have 1 layer of fabric, then place over it a jig made of draftboard with 2.5" squares cut out. In the middle of each square we then place a 1.5" square of draftboard.
The Glowforge is then asked to cut 2" squares through just the fabric.
Would this work to keep the cut fabric from flying around?
I just watched the Quilting Daily video with my friend who is an avid quilter. I see myself needing to figure out how to cut fabric

[rbtdanforth]

@Helene

Using a Jig to hold the fabric down is an interesting idea.

Big magnets will have a large field that will mess with the fan and a lot more. However, tiny magnets can have very strong but very short-range fields, Therefore a number of very small magnets (~1/8 inch diameter) drilled and glued into jigs can hold the fabric down and hold the jigs in place without getting lost and making other messes.