batting

Welcome, Karin, to the wonderful word of quilting!

First, is there a washable velvet you can use in these quilts? (I'm not knowledgeable in velvets!) If you do find one, you should know that it's not the easiest fabric to work with- you'll need to be careful to get the nap in each block facing the same direction. Also, the depth of the nap can make the velvet shift a bit as you sew it- a walking foot would probably be a good idea for the piecing. A lovely black cotton solid or mottled black cotton or tone-on-tone black cotton or a tiny print in the theme color on black cotton might be a better choice.

Second, you didn't say if you will machine or hand quilt these quilts. Crazy quilts- generally- are quite bulky with all the seams and decorations, etc. on them. They are most often tacked or tied rather than quilted. Just something to consider- the bulk may cause you some 'situations' in your piecing, quilting and binding.

Polyester batts used to be the worst for bearding- but I haven't used poly in ages and ages and they are probably improved from way back then. I love Warm & Natural or Warm & White. Both are 100% cotton and drape and handle and wash beautifully. I prefer to pre-wash and machine dry my cotton battings- I am not a big fan of the antique 'crinkled' look in my quilts. The 100% cotton battings also have the advantage of 'sticking' to the quilt top and backing. They aren't sticky but you can smooth the top and backing and it will cling to the cotton batting which makes the quilting/tying much easier. Some don't care for the Warm & White/Natural because it's a bit harder to hand quilt thru them. I am strictly all machine work and I buy the Warm & Natural by the 40 yard bolt when Joann Fabrics has a half price sale or coupon.

Hope I answered some of your questions- and welcome again to both the wonderful world of quilting and the newsgroup!

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

I concur with Leslie about the cotton batting. The Warm & Natural/White are a dream to work with, and enhance the wonderful feel of the finished quilt. Lately I've been using the Hobbs organic cotton with scrim, and it is also a dream to work with and feels great finished.

Trixie

Howdy!

Hobbs batting, always.

Will the pieced/crazy blocks be about the same weight as the alternating velvet blocks? Different types or weights of fabric wear at different rates. Quilt closely to keep it all secured, more likely to wear at a similar rate.

R/Sandy - watching a new quilter jump in feet first ;-)

Thanks for the ideas! Yes I am very very happy to have discovered quilting. Now of course when I sit with yards of unquilted quilt top in front of me I may start to get anxious...

I like your idea of a solid cotton instead of velvet. I want it to look really rich but velvet sounds pretty difficult. I sewed a velvet jacket once and it was difficult. A dark purple cotton for one quilt and a deep green for the other would look lovely and rich and not have to be so difficult to work with. I find I have learned to simplify just because I am always doing things in twos. Also I was not going to make the crazy blocks real heavy, just embroidery and a couple of ribbons and doodads from the kids' stuff.

Is the cotton batting warm enough? Both girls are heading toward cold northern states.

------------------------------------- Karin

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Great link! I just learned about the different techniques for making batting. Also seems like no one thinks the Dream Wool idea flies. Thanks for the warning about the different weight blocks. I may just go with a solid cotton block in between the Crazy blocks. I have another question about the batting. Will a polycotton blend have any loft? I want a bit of puffiness. Thanks.

------------------------------------- Karin

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Any batting will have some loft. Beware- the puffier the loft the harder to quilt thru it- either by hand or machine. Especially by machine as you have to stuff all that puffy batting under the sewing machine. Tying or tacking wouldn't be too bad with the higher loft as long as the quilt sandwich is well basted with pins or hand basting. There can be some shifting of the quilt sandwich with the high lofts, so it's not the best idea (maybe???) for a beginner.

You asked if Warn & Natural/White would be warm enough for Northern climates. Well, if the quilt is used alone then possibly no. If you have a blanket under it, then it sure would. I assume the twin's dwelling will be heated? LOL I keep my bedroom cool-ish (about 65 degrees) and a single blanket and a quilt with Warm & Natural does me just fine. Of course, The HairyButt Gang (my four very large indoor/house dogs) sleep on the bed with me, so I get some body heat from whomever is snuggled up to me at the moment! LOL

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

I love wool batting. It is very easy to hand quilt through, has more "puffiness" than cotton without the bulk of polyester. And you can also machine quilt it. Yes you can wash/dry in the machine if you follow the directions that come with it. You may want to pre soak and dry, carefully, before use (if it is recommended by your brand of wool.) Wool is nice because it both insulates and wicks moisture away. Can be cooler in warmer weather, and warm in cool weather. Hobbs and Quilter's Dream both make nice battings, as does the Warm Co. Depends on what you can get, and pricing. (I have been trying to try out different battings and washing the finished projects and so on.)

Have fun, and Welcome Karin. Pati, in Phx

On Feb 28, 1:22=A0pm, vakdevi_at_comcast_dot snipped-for-privacy@foo.com (thoughtful1) wrote: =A0So

So glad you chimed in, Pati. We only get the wools out here in the Swamp about every 3 years so I only know that some of you had been very pleased with wool batting. My other concern was a new quilter attempting to quilt a crazy quilt. That's h-a-r-d. Polly

Welcome from across the pond, Karin.

I'd just like to add something to Polly's words about quilting. If you are going to put beads and 'lumpy' things on the crazy blocks, do the quilting first! It is terribly difficult to avoid the beads etc - if you are machine quilting . You won't need to do much quilting on the crazy blocks anyway - just enough to hold them into the sandwich. You could do more quilting on the alternating blocks. Dark blue and purple are also great with multi-coloured blocks. . In message , thoughtful1 writes

Howdy!

So, Karin, I'm wondering if you're thinking a traditional crazy quilt block, or a pieced block next to an un-pieced fabric square. Very do-able. "Crazy" piecing makes us think of embellished blocks, embroidery, beads, lace, fancy trims. A "regular" pieced block could be just about any design; nestled between plain squares of fabric this can make a striking, quick, practical quilt.

Because you intend to have plain (un-pieced) squares in the quilts, I recommend using batting; otherwise the plain squares sitting flat on the quilt backing would make thin areas in the quilt. And here I am back to talking about planning to have the same weight distribution throughout the quilt; it lasts longer that way. Batting gives the quilt another layer of strength which my college kid found very helpful in the laundry (he washed his quilt a lot! ). Just about any batt will give a nice loft. Drapability is another factor; a fat batt could make the quilt too heavy or lumpy to lie flat on the bed, more difficult to cuddle under and just not as comfy. We want pictures!

Cheers! Ragmop/Sandy

The big question I have is about the batting. I have never

I've used the Matilda's Own brand of wool batting and was very pleased. I washed and dried it beforehand but I always wash and dry everything before quilting or sewing. The directions state just regular wash and dry cycle and that's what I used. As I recall, the shrinkage was minimal (it may have been preshrunk, I don't remember). I got it at Kings Men quilt supply and was happy with the price, service and shipping. I have no connection with them other than being a very happy customer.

I almost always use Warm & Natural cotton batting for my quilts and use flannel as the backing. It makes them warm and cozy and most of my family live in the colder areas. The quilt with the wool batting went to my daughter in South Lake Tahoe CA but I've made other quilts with cotton batting and flannel backing for other family there.

Judie

Karin,

One of the posters here mentioned wool batting. We actually raise sheep and llamas for their wool. If your girls are alergic to straight wool, we can make batting from llama wool which is generally speaking much less scratchy and less likely to kick up allergies. All our wool batting is natural and never dyed (unless requested of course).

If you're interested, drop me a line and we can chat about size, natural colors, loft, etc..

Regards,

Rick Boesen Olivet, MI