If you’re a quilter who loves exploring new textures and bringing a natural, tactile feel to your work, linen might just be your next favorite fabric. While 100% quilting cotton is a tried-and-true staple, incorporating linen—or linen blends—into your quilting projects can open up a whole new world of texture, depth, and character.
Linen adds a softness and organic charm that’s hard to replicate with other substrates. Whether you’re aiming for a modern, minimalist vibe or something rustic and cozy, linen has a way of elevating even the simplest quilt design. That said, it behaves a little differently than cotton, which means it comes with its own set of quirks and best practices.
In this post, I’ll walk through the pros and cons of using linen in quilts, tips for prepping and sewing with it, and ideas for how to make it work beautifully with your quilt patterns. Whether you’re a seasoned maker or just starting to experiment with different fabrics, this guide will help you confidently add linen to your quilting toolkit.
I’m covering:
- Why Consider Linen in Quilting?
- What is Linen?
- Pros and Cons of Using Linen in Quilting
- Prepping Linen for Quilting
- Sewing and Piecing Tips
- Quilting and Finishing Tips
- Examples and Inspiration
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Introduction: Why Consider Linen in Quilting?
There’re lots of reasons to consider incorporating linen in your quilty adventures, but at the top of my list would be the tactile feel linen sneaks into your quilts. While there are lots of substrates to consider in your quilting, such as wovens, chambrays, cotton lawn, and flannel, there’s something about the natural qualities of linen that is super appealing.
The texture, drape, and natural feel of linen offers add a lovely contrast to your finished quilt, upping the cozy snuggle factor.
Whether you go full on linen or decide to add other fabric substrates to the mix, linen is sure to add a unique tactile feel.
What is Linen?
Before I dive into the pros and cons of working with linen, I thought it might be helpful to explain what linen is made from.
What is linen made from?
Linen is made from the flax fibers that are extracted from flax plants. These fibers are processed into yarn that’s then woven into linen fabric. It’s a process that dates back to prehistoric Europe.
How does it compare to cotton?
While linen stems from flax fibers, quilting cotton is derived from cotton plant fibers.
While both are natural fabric substrates from plants, there are a couple of main differences between the two, including:
- Linen is stronger, more durable, and has better breathability capabilities than cotton.
- Cotton, however, is softer and has a smoother hand feel.
You can have the best of both worlds; the durability of linen paired with the softness of cotton by exploring linen blends such as Essex Linen. These tend to be more forgiving, making them more beginner-friendly.
Pros and Cons of Using Linen in Quilting
As with most things in life, there’re some pros and cons to incorporating linen in quilting.
Pros:
- Adds texture and visual interest.
- Beautiful depth of color.
- Great for modern, minimalist designs.
- Amazing drape.
Cons:
- Likes to wiggle around and stretch out on you.
- Frays more easily.
- Shrinks more.
- Slightly trickier to press and piece.
Prepping Linen for Quilting
Should you pre-wash?
Yes! Probably not what you wanted to hear – ha!
The exception to this rule is when I’m only featuring linen in my quilt. As soon as I sneak in another fabric substrate along with the linen, I always make sure to pre-wash my fabrics.
Tips for handling fraying
I don’t stress too much about fraying edges, but if that’s something that will bother you, then you can consider:
- pinking your edges,
- serging your edges, or
- starching your fabric.
Best tools to use
One thing I learned in cooking school was the importance of a sharp blade. That concept has transferred to my quilting tools, and I’m diligent about using sharp rotary blades (I stock these and these in the studio) and sharp needles (I replace mine every 3 bobbin changes when I clean my machine – see my Sunday Studio Maintenance habits here), which also explains why I stock needles by packs of 100.
I can’t stress enough the importance of working with sharp tools. They increase your efficiency, increase your accuracy, and increase your safety 😊 See all my favourite notions I keep stocked in the studio here.
Sewing and Piecing Tips
There are a few recurring questions that pop up about sewing with linen.
Should you adjust your stitch length?
No, at least I never have – ha!
My go-to stitch length is 2.0 for all my regular piecing needs. I stitch with a Juki (you can read all the reasons I love and hate it here), so my stitch length might be different compared to the stitch length of your specific machine.
My best tip is to do a few tests on smaller pieces to see what works best with your machine.
How to press seams effectively (linen can be a bit springy).
I’m very mindful to press instead of iron when working with linen.
What’s the difference between the two?
Essentially, ironing is the back-and-forth motion, while pressing is where you lift and place the iron. Ironing your fabric has a tendency to stretch the fibers out, which will add a little wonk to your fabric, making it more challenging to keep things nicely squared up.
Linen blends to the rescue
Working with a linen blend makes both pressing and piecing a little less challenging 😉 So if you’re new to working with linen, I encourage you to dip your quilty foot in by starting with a linen blend.
Quilting and Finishing Tips
When it comes to quilting and finishing tips for quilts that incorporate linen, there are a few things to consider.
Quilting strategies that work well with linen
While you can absolutely go dense with your quilting, my preference is to keep the quilting minimal to show off the texture and allow for more of a tactile feel.
Best batting choices to pair with linen
I haven’t had the chance to explore too many different batting types; my usual go-to is 100% cotton. I like that it’s breathable, it’s warm without being too warm, and I like that it’s a natural fiber. That said, I don’t see any reason to only feature cotton batting in quilts that include linen. Wool, bamboo, silk, and polyester are all great options. I think it comes back to the ultimate feel that you’re after.
Binding with linen—yay or nay?
I’ve done it! So, I say, why not?
The only thing to consider here is that if you’re using 100% linen, then it might stretch out on you a little more. Nothing a little starch can’t help 😊
Examples + Inspiration
My sewing adventures kicked off with sewing with linen, so linen has been a go-to fabric substrate of mine since day 1. Here are just a few of the quilts I’ve made featuring linen or a combo of linen and other fabric substrates:
Quilts
- Cloud Surfing Quilt – features AGF Premium Linen
- Little Forest Quilt – features Windham Fabrics Linen White
- Irish Vortex – features Essex Linen + FQ bundle
- Double Windmill Quilt – features Brussels Washer Linen
- Winter Star Quilt – features Essex Linen and cotton
- Spring Lilacs Quilt – features Essex Linen, shot cotton, and cotton
For your Pets
- Pet Food Placemat – mix of linen and wovens
- Pet Travel Carrier Liner – mix of linen, wovens, and cotton
Home Décor
- Double Chevron Pillow – mix of Essex Linen + cotton
- Etched Diamond Pillow – Essex Linen + cotton
- Modern Aztec Table Runner – mix of Essex Linen + cotton
- Refracted Star Table Runner – mix of Essex Linen, artisan cotton, and cotton
Wearables
- Quilted Coat – the dark gray and pink one
- Quilted Coat – the beige and orange one
- Quilted Coat – the gray monochrome one
- Quilted Coat – the jade ombré one
- Peppermint pocket skit
For more quilty inspiration, check out:
I hope this encourages you to dive in and explore incorporating linen in your quilting adventures! I recommend starting with something simple, like the Pink Lemonade or Irish Vortex quilt patterns, to ease your way into the linen play.
Now that I’ve shared my experience and tips for sneaking linen into my quilts, I’d love to hear about your experience. Share in the comments so we can all get in on the quilty fun!
xo,
Shannon
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Hi Shannon, I use linen in my quilts, including Essex cotton/linen blends as well as enzyme washed linen. Before I cut the all linen fabrics I wash and machine dry and then spray substantially with a fabric starch and then press well with no steam. This gives the fabric stability, and then I cut using my rotary cutter. Sometimes the pieces sew in a little bit wonky, but I like the effect – rustic and organic.
Oh, I’ve never heard of enzyme washed linen, I’ll definitely be checking that out, Brita! Thank you for sharing. Also, I do love a wabi-sabi look in my quilts, too 😉
Thanks for this informative and well written blog on linen. I have rarely used linen in my quilting until I made a Hovea quilted coat, like you have shown here. It’s the left overs of grey essex linen that I incorporated and I do like the look and feel of this fabric. After reading this, I will look to incorporate more in my sewing.
Oh, I love hearing that, Laraine! Using your leftover linen scraps from making your Hovea coat is the perfect time to dive in and sneak some linen into your quilts 🙂 Can’t wait to see how that quilty adventure turns out!