06/29/2026
MUSINGS ON DIGITALLY PRINTED FABRICS
Can I confess something without getting kicked out of the quilting community? (as if that’s never happened before…) I kinda’ hate digitally printed fabrics.
There. I said it and I don’t even care.
Here’s the background: Somewhere between 2007 and 2009, digitally printed collections started showing up at Quilt Market, but in very small quantities. As I recall, they were pretty expensive (mere pennies/nickles compared to today’s quilt shop SALE prices) and I really only remember them being used for panels. There might’ve been fabric collections, but I don’t remember that. It doesn’t matter, the dye had been cast.
Within about 2 more years, Hofffman fabrics kind of became the de facto leader in producing and promoting digital fabrics to quilters. Then, just a couple of years later, by 2015, digital fabrics were part of the mainstream. P&B, Northcott, Robert Kaufman, Clothworks, Benartex, QT Fabrics, and others jumped on the bandwagon with some success and limited collections available to retailers.
So digital fabrics have been around for at least 25 years now and while I had hoped they might get better in terms of quality and their hand, I don’t think we’ve seen much progress there. I’d really like to see some more research and trial and error to get these things feeling like cotton and not cotton with a schmear of colored coating.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that digital prints are wrong. They’re just totally wrong for me. They’re just…not my cup of tea and I can’t make apologies for it. By the way, it’s not like they are any less expensive than screen printed, and they feel weird to me. No matter how much I might love the design and the work of the talented designers, 1000 college pool-boys with washboard abs couldn’t make me click on, “Add to my Cart”.
I know they’re here to stay, and many of them are absolutely beautiful — spectacular even. But every time I find one online or I pick up a bolt in a shop, I find myself wandering back to blenders, batiks or good old-fashioned fabulous screen prints like a homing pigeon wearing orthopedic shoes.
One thing I’m finally getting better at is making my own decisions instead of waiting for my tribe to tell me what to think.
That said, it’s interesting when experienced quilters who don’t even know each other keep making the same observations. My buddy G hates the way many digitally printed fabrics develop needle runs and snags, show little white “flares,” and seem to retain every needle hole. Another longtime quilting friend, N, actually stopped in the middle of piecing a quilt because she thought she’d accidentally grabbed polyester—that’s how different the fabric felt. Yet another quilter says digitally printed fabrics are harder to piece accurately, more difficult to press, and no fun at all to hand quilt.
G also wonders how they’ll hold up over time, and she’s not alone. I’m already hearing quilters say some digitally printed fabrics seem to fade faster and lose color after only a few washings. The bright white backing doesn’t help either. The minute a seam shifts or a hem turns, that white peeks through like a flashing neon sign. Fraying is another complaint I hear again and again.
Now, does this mean all digitally printed fabric is bad? Of course not. Again, there are some beautiful prints out there. But when experienced quilters—working independently of one another—keep raising the same concerns, I think it’s worth paying attention instead of dismissing them.
Now, here’s the part that took me years to learn: Getting older has made me an even a bigger pain-in-the-ass, but it’s also been deliciously liberating.
I don’t have to love what everyone else loves, and I don’t have to apologize for my preferences and neither do you. Mostly, I certainly don’t have to pretend to be charmed by a product just because fabric companies are looking for other ways that are more economical for them to produce — which is 1,000,000% above board and legit, by the way — not that we’ll see much, if any, of those savings per yard when we’re feeding our textile hoard.
In any event, whether it’s fabric, music, art, politics, or dessert…It’s perfectly okey-dokey to say, “That’s kinda’ nice…but it ain’t for me.”
The quilting world is big enough for all of us - except if you like digital prints (I’M KIDDING!! IT’S A JOKE!!). Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some batik swap fat quarters that have been calling my name — for what I don’t know, but it’s better than a cheesecake tempting me.
Love to you all. xoxom ❤️

