Quilt Stabilizer Review: Peltex and Timex

Every once in a while, as an artist or quiltmaker, a new product comes along that just rocks your world, changes your life. And for me, that product was Timtex. It can be called Peltex too, in a slightly thinner form. These are very, very sturdy industrial stabilizers. In fact, they are found in the headliner of your car, and this is Timtex.

It is about, oh, a 16th of an inch thick, and it's very sturdy. It can fold and roll. But once it's stitched, it doesn't fold and roll quite as well. And it can give very, very strong body to your artwork. This is what happens to it when you paint it.

So you can paint it with fabric paints and use it as a backdrop or cut it up and weave with it. There's all these sorts of things you can do with it but you can paint it and use it that way too. I've taken to using it in my wall quilts, along with batting. So a layer of backing fabric, then the Peltex or Timtex, then batting, then top fabric or the pieced quilt or whatever it is. And that added extra layer gives the piece stiffness.

So you can see there's no drapability to this quilt and that way it's going to hang perfectly flat on the wall. Now, the downside is, is I can't fold this piece. Now it's pretty small, I don't need to, but if it was a really big piece I don't want it to be folded because I can get permanent crease marks in it. The good side is, is that it's going to lay perfectly flat on my wall. It's also what I use to make bowls with.

So this bowl has two layers of Timtex in it which gives it a very, very sturdy functionality to it. This bowl is about 12 years old and I've actually put it in the dishwasher on the top level because somebody put chips in it. And so it's very, very sturdy. And then I use it also to make my three-sided vessels that I like to make. And it gives it the stiffness that it needs to stand up and do its job.

So Peltex and Timtex, they're both by the company Pellon, and it's wonderful. It's a great new tool that you can use to stiffen or give hard body to the work that you're doing. I think you should really give it a try. You can get it at your regular fabric stores and some of your quilt stores to keep it in your stash. So that the next time you're making a wall piece you can be assured that it's going to hang perfectly flat on your wall.