Batting & Backing

When I have finished quilting my projects, I like to save the extra backing and batting  that I trim off before I put the binding on.  This is great to use to practice your machine quilting on.  If the piece is big enough you can make pot holders or coasters when you are done practicing on them. A way to also see how some of your specialty threads look without having to experiment on your quilt.

I live in a rural area, so specialty batting is not usually available.  I've found that instead of using the insulated batting for potholders I can use one or two old cotton washcloths for batting.  The cotton is safer than polyester which burns more easily.  It's also a great way to use old washcloths you might otherwise throw out. 

  Phoenix Hocking

After quilting and trimming your quilt you often have large pieces of batting left over.  Piece them together to use in runners wall hangings and baby quilts.  Sew the left over batting together with your 5 step zig zag stitch and it will fit together nicely. Using the regular zig zag, you will have a waffle wave where the batting is sewn together.

Tired of washing your backing fabric (or any large yardage piece) and having it turn into a wrinkled, tangled rope in the dryer that takes hours to untangle? And tired of  those wrinkles that are almost impossible to get rid? Baste the cut edges of your fabric together with a largish stitch on your machine making a large loop out of your fabric before you wash it...no more tangles!

In keeping with the "basting theme", I learned an invaluable tip. I use 1 or 1 1/2 inch masking tape & my kitchen table ( for smaller wall hangings) or kitchen floor ( for larger projects). I spread my backing fabric out and tape the sides, top & botom edges   to the table or floor. You don't need to have a continuous line of tape running around the entire piece--just at several points. You  should smooth out and pull the fabric fairly taut. Repositioning  is easy with the tape. I then place the batting & top over & safety pin -baste, starting in the middle & working out to the edges. Remove the tape when basting is complete. The back comes put beautiful , with no puckers!! It's the BOMB!!!  Hope this helps someone else as much as it helped me.  Wende Hughson, Richmond, Virginia

I love t-shirt quilts, but to me the point is the t-shirt, not the quilting.  So I save my fancy stitching for other quilts and tie t-shirt quilts.  But if I use regular batting, the ties would have to be 3-4 inches apart and, again, that would be so many ties that it'd interfere with seeing the t-shirt.  The solution?  I use flannel as my batting.  It doesn't shift or bunch even when I tie 6-8 inches apart. 

I usually end up with pretty good sized pieces of batting left over after I finish a quilt.  They are usually perfect to use in table runners, baby quilts and other small projects.  But when I was ready to use them, it took forever to unfold each one to find the right size.  Now, when I have batting pieces left over I make a label on a scrap of paper and safety pin it to the scrap before I fold it up and put it away.  On the label I put the dimensions and any other info like the type of batting it is, if it's fusible or not, etc.

I make an extra block (usually like the ones on the front of the quilt) and attach it to the backing and make a label out of it.  Before sewing it on, I press a piece of freezer paper on the back and document on it.  I sew an extra inch of fabric around the block so I have all even edges to turn under and then applique it on the backing.  This always gets the ooohs and aaahhhs when I share it at Show and Tell during our Quilt Guild meetings.

Always measure your tops twice before cutting backing to size.  I usually lay out the backing folded in half length wise and lay the top folded lengthwise on top to make sure there is extra on all 4 sides.  This could save a big headache later.

With Long Arm quilting I need to square up the fabric, and 110" backing is tough to get straight.  I have found that if you tear the edges you come up with a perfectly squared piece of fabric.  The most important part of this is that the edges are torn, and you don't want to use any of that in your quilt, I would say up to an inch sometimes more.