I have never made a duvet cover, but I did make some pillow shams that will need lots of washing. I backed the pieced top with muslin and had it quilted together, then treated that as the top and added the back. Hopefully that will help with the fraying.

beverly

I spent a lot of time and effort making a spider web block quilt, and had the same concerns. They weren't ungrounded. The larger a piece like that becomes, the more stress on the seams when laundered. It is now a blankie I use to line the trunk of my car, unfortunately.

Things I'd have done differently? Use a very, very tight quilting pattern for one. That helps to reinforce the seams, of course. Secondly, if this were a quilt I wanted to use for myself and not give or enter into some sort of contest, I'd have done a stitch in the ditch using a zig-zag stitch, so that each seam was fastened tight in many places, and essentially the seams were encased.

You want to distribute the tension over as large an area as possible, and you don't want any free play in the selvage of the seams.

I can't think of anything you could spray on and the iron on materials will be too stiff (my opinion!) and you'll need a lot of it. You might want to consider Beverly's advice and back it with muslin or change the whole plan and quilt it. It would be so disappointing, after all the work you've put into it, to see it fall apart after a couple washings.

Kate

I think I like the idea of quilting the top & muslin together, then create the duvet case with another nice fabric for the underside.

One more layer of fabric wouldn't add too much weight or thickness to the mix, I wouldn't think.

Pictures??? I like things with a million little pieces!!

I do what Beverly does. I quilt the top with thin batting to a piece of muslin to stabilize the seams.

I am here to tell you it most definitely will fray and be a tangled mess of threads if you wash it without quilting it first. I had to wash a quilt top that was laying on the floor after my dear little dog got sick on it. I washed it on delicate - no spin- and it was a mess! I had to clip the threads, press like heck, and changed my quilt design in order to quilt over all the seams to stabilize the quilt.
Your quilt definitely will not survive.
I would use either a very, very thin batting & muslin or a preshrunk (several times) flannel backing only - maybe a flannel sheet - quilt it - then make the duvet cover.

calliope - sorry to hear what happened to your spider web quilt.

I think I like the idea of quilting the top & muslin together, then create the duvet case with another nice fabric for the underside.

One more layer of fabric wouldn't add too much weight or thickness to the mix, I wouldn't think.

Pictures??? I like things with a million little pieces!!

I was afraid of that. The reason I wanted to turn it into a duvet cover was to avoid quilting it. The pinwheels are about 3 inches and the 4 arms of the pinwheels are about 1/2" x 1" and about 1 1/2 inches long. In order to make the pinwheels 'pop' I would have to quilt around the outside of each and every pinwheel, and that's more than I think I'm capable of. I thought that if I could 'glue' a sheet to the underside of the top I could avoid having to quilt it.

I think any 'adhesive' type product you use, is either going to wash away the first time it is laundered or be stiff.
Your quilt sounds like you put alot of work into it, and you should be very proud. I understand your reluctance to tackle the quilting, but I think it is the only way to control the fraying and stabilize the quilt.
Some fabrics ravel more than others. This factor needs to be considered as well.

Is this the quilt pattern? Very cool (and I can see what you mean about all the little pieces!).

What about backing it with white flannel? It tends to cling, so it would be easier to pin it up and do some free motion around the pinwheels?

Clara

Here is a link that might be useful: Square Dance Quilt

You know, sending a quilt like that out to be done by a long arm is sometimes worth the cost. I had a lady do one of mine using a pantograph, because I was so far behind with my UFOs and it was a b'day present and overdue. It was really not that expensive!

WOW thanks for the link Clara, that is gorgeous!! I made a pillow top and after the first wash I took it apart and quilted it with a thin muslin backing.
After all of that work it would be a shame for it to ravel.
Rosa