Question about flannel quilts.

Hullo Zo You can certainly piece it and make patterns as you do the ordinary cotton; *BUT* it does shrink a lot. It is absolutely necessary to wash it first. It doesn't just cause the old-fashioned crinkly look if you don't, it would be ruined. Some folk wash it twice, and in warm or hot water. You have got to get it to a stage where it can be washed once the quilt is finished. Also, it frays a lot so it is advisable to use a wider seam allowance. With these constraints, you might be better off with a simple rather than a complex pattern. It also has a rather different 'feel' - lovely, but different. You would probably want to use a thin batting, because flannel is warmer. And you might also want to use a flannel backing and binding. But I'm sure there are no rules. Hope this helps. Others who have worked more with it will know more than I. I only have general knowledge, and have used it as a backing. . In article , zo writes

We've had lots of discussions about flannel, so try a search. Basically, you need to wash it a couple of times (it shrinks a lot). Use it like any other cotton, but avoid any intricate piecing. It tends to ravel more, so the less you have to handle it the better. Some people use wider seams too.

You might not need any batting, especially if the backing is also flannel. Since flannel has a more "country" appearance, it often does well as a tied quilt. Roberta in D

Rag type quilts are made from flannel, jeans and cotton. They get that "country" appearance because you clip the seams before you wash it. Carl

------------ Thou shalt use thine scraps to make quilts for charity, so that those less fortunate may know they joy of sleeping beneath a quilt.

You are thinking about one like the raggy Quilt at

See I can read your mind!!! and me all the way 'down under' too.

Dee in Oz

"Dannielle Beitzell" > wrote

The first quilt I made was of flannel and I really liked it as it was a breeze to work with. I was lucky I guess - I didn't wash it but it only shrank just enough to give the crinkled look. I used Warm n Natural batting, flannel for the backing and bound it the same way I've done my other quilts. There are a lot of flannels out now for almost any quilt you might want to do - baby quilts or grandfather quilts :-)

Shawn

-- mslibra

Raggy....that's the word I was looking for! Thanks guys!!!!

-- Dannielle from NY

I haven't found that W&N ruins the blade. It ruins the mat, sort of. The fibers get caught in the grooves of the mat which turns it fuzzy and hard to clean or use again since the fuzzies get all over anything else I mean to cut and the fabric no longer lies flat against the mat. I use an older, smaller mat for batting and for taking to classes and save the nice new big one for everything else.

--Lia

Dannielle Beitzell wrote:

Might be worth a try, don't know of anyone who has tried! Seems like the medium-weight cottons wouldn't have enough mass to produce successful raggies. They'd just ravel down to stubs and look wrong side out instead of raggy. Unless you did it like chenille and sewed several layers of squares cut on the bias. IMO, a bit too much trouble and expense to produce something that works better with other fabric! (Especially at the price of fabric here.) Roberta in D

If you're getting fuzzies in your mat from the rotary cutter, you need a new blade.

Leave it to John Flynn! Next year, he's going to invent the wheel.

-- Ruth in Happy Camp

mean...come

Hullo Lia Try cleaning the fuzzies out of your mat with the polystyrene packing things that Jennifer told us about the other day. I had a go on mine, but when I looked at the mat, there was nothing really on it to clean!! - so, no test >g< . In article , Julia Altshuler writes

I just bought a pattern for a rag quilt made with flannel and it doesn't say anything about batting. I think the flannel will be heavy and warm enough because you also use flannel as the backing.

Carl

------------ Thou shalt use thine scraps to make quilts for charity, so that those less fortunate may know they joy of sleeping beneath a quilt.

Thanks Bonnie and Curly for replying!!....Mary

I have used flanner a few times and have found that it does fray a lot. I made a kitty bed out of flannel with 1/4" seam allowance and after 2 washings seams were coming undone because of fraying, so on the quilt I used 1/2" seam allowances. Also wash the fabric before you use it.

leafyeb

If I recall correctly, Jennifer had only ONE of those peanuts-- and she used it on her cutting mat after she had shined up her kitchen sink with it.

No, actually, she used an old one that fell out of the bottom of a planter into the kitchen sink to shine it up - then she took a couple more into the sewing room and just for the heck of it she rubbed the mat with them - lo and behold the mat was much improved and I do suggest using a circular motion. Latest tip for their use: squeaky cleaned an old rotary blade - NOT the blade edge! Jennifer in Ottawa

------- Group: rec.crafts.textiles.quilting Date: Mon, Jul 28, 2003, 5:29pm (EDT-3) From: snipped-for-privacy@sisqtel.net (Ruth=A0in=A0Happy=A0Camp) If I recall correctly, Jennifer had only ONE of those peanuts-- and she used it on her cutting mat after she had shined up her kitchen sink with it.

hmmm...there are a lot more uses for those things than just kitty toys (supervised). Now I just need something sent to me...

leafyeb

That's just exactly what Polly said - wonder what she ordered? Jennifer in Ottawa

-------- Group: rec.crafts.textiles.quilting Date: Wed, Jul 30, 2003, 5:29pm (EDT+4) From: snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (Leafyeb) hmmm...there are a lot more uses for those things than just kitty toys (supervised). Now I just need something sent to me... leafyeb On Mon, 28 Jul 2003 21:31:08 -0400 (EDT), snipped-for-privacy@interactive.rogers.com (Jennifer Hepworth) wrote: =A0=A0No, actually, she used an old one that fell out of the bottom of a planter into the kitchen sink to shine it up - then she took a couple more into the sewing room and just for the heck of it she rubbed the mat with them - lo and behold the mat was much improved and I do suggest using a circular motion. Latest tip for their use: squeaky cleaned an old rotary blade - NOT the blade edge! Jennifer in Ottawa

------- Group: rec.crafts.textiles.quilting Date: Mon, Jul 28, 2003, 5:29pm (EDT-3) From: snipped-for-privacy@sisqtel.net (Ruth=3DA0in=3DA0Happy=3DA0Camp) If I recal= l correctly, Jennifer had only ONE of those peanuts-- and she used it on her cutting mat after she had shined up her kitchen sink with it.