Quilting with Franken-batting

With 2021 wrapping up and 2022 fast approaching, I have a few quilty goals for whats left of this year:

Get all my December orders finished and shipped out on time.
Finish all the projects I started in 2021, preferably in 2021, but at least before I start any new projects in 2022.

Goal number 1 = met! Yaaayyy!!!

I’m also deep into goal number 2. Today I basted and quilted my current oldest work in progress. I made a little post about this one on my instagram. I decided to use some large pieces of leftover batting to baste this one, a pieced batting. I call it Franken-batting because it’s multiple pieces instead of just one large piece. I’m sure I’m not the only one who does this from time to time. I rarely buy the bags of batting that are cut to fit specific size quilts. I make a lot of quilts, so I buy the batting in large rolls. Sometimes the batting is way too wide for the quilt I’m basting, and there are large pieces leftover – too small for most quilts, but also too large to throw away. As a quilter, I hate to waste perfectly good cotton. Batting is NOT cheap, so just throwing it away would be wasting perfectly good money as well, and nobody wants to do that.

The first time I needed to make Franken-batting was because I was making a huge quilt that was wider than my batting roll. I had to cut an extra piece from the roll and just joined the pieces with a zig zag stitch in white thread. This method is perfectly fine, and it worked well for me. However, I saw an even better method posted by another quilter on instagram. She suggested butting the two pieces of batting up and using a thin strip of fusible interfacing to join the two pieces. This is a great idea, and it works at times when the method I’m about to talk about won’t.

My minimal effort Franken-batting method, no joining required

I was about to join some batting on a previous quilt, when I thought – why? Won’t the basting and quilting hold all that together for me anyway?

I like to spread the batting out on my bed. The foam mattress keeps the batting flattened out better than when I try to baste on the floor. I also like to baste the top to the batting first, then flip it over and baste the backing to the other side of the batting. I find that I am less likely to get folds and tucks in my backing if I baste the top and backing separately like that. I have a whole post about basting here.

The picture shows how I just overlapped the batting pieces a little, no joining required. Then, I went about my basting as usual, allowing the basting to hold my Franken-batting together.

When to use this method for Franken-batting?

It’d be easier to start with when it’s not a good idea to leave your Franken-batting un-joined.

I wouldn’t recommend using different types of batting for your Franken-batting. Battings are different thicknesses, different fiber compositions, and have different shrinkage factors. If you use two different types of batting that shrink differently, you may end up with a lot of wonkiness in your quilt once you wash it.

If you wall-baste, this is not a good method for you. The franken pieces need to be held together if you’re going to hang them on the wall.

If you use pool noodles or boards for basting, this is also not the method for you. It makes sense that the batting pieces would need to be joined if you’re going to try to roll them up on the noodle or boards.

If you use minimal quilting, leaving your Franken-batting un-joined is not a good idea. The places where they overlap need to be gone over well with quilting so that it doesn’t bunch up on you in the wash. I used micro stipples when I quilted this one, so those places where the batting overlaps is well and thoroughly quilted down.

Some people may be concerned about the areas of where they overlap being a little thicker than the rest of the quilt. While this is absolutely true, it doesn’t really affect the look of the quilt. The only time it would be a concern would be if you think your machine isn’t up for the slightly heavier duty needed to sew through that second layer of batting.

So when is this a good method? When you baste on a flat horizontal surface, like the floor or on a king size bed like I do and when you use a lot of quilting.

A Little About the Quilting:

What are stipples anyway?

If you’re new to quilting, you may not have done much or any free motion quiltng yet. What I call stipples, other quilters may call stippling or meandering. Same thing, different names. Call it whatever you want. “Stipples” has a special place in my heart because my ten year old thinks that word is hilarious.

Stipples are a basic form of free motion quilting. It’s the first thing a lot of us learn. They are little squiggly lines that look like puzzle pieces. Everyone’s stipples look a little different, and the only “rule” is that the thread lines don’t cross. What if you accidentally cross the lines? Well, after your sewing machine explodes, the quilt police will show up at your door and promptly relieve you of your quilting license. So, definitely don’t do this… JUST KIDDING! You don’t actually need a license to quilt, and if the quilt police were a real thing I would be in quilt jail already. Oh, and if your sewing machine ever does explode, it won’t be because you crossed your lines while quilting some stipples. This is not Ghostbusters where you can never cross the streams. If you accidentally cross your stipple lines, it’s not going to be noticeable in your whole quilt. This brings me to an advantage of using a lot of quilting. The more quiltng you have on, the easier it is for your mistakes to hide. Even the most beautiful quilts don’t have to be perfect. I haven’t made a perfect quilt yet, and I’m not holding my breath either.

How small do the stipples have to be to call them MICRO stipples? This is completely up to you. It’s YOUR quilt. They are YOUR stipples. YOU can call them whatever YOU want.

I have my thumb in the picture so that you can see the scale of my stipples. You can make them bigger or smaller depending on what you want your quilt to look like.

If you’re just starting free motion quilting and having trouble, know this… It does take practice, but you CAN learn it. Start with stipples or loops and just practice. I did an instagram post with some free motion quilting tips that may help. I also have a video of me doing the stipples for this quilt if you want to check it out.

My Oldest Work in Progress

At the beginning of this post, I said that this quilt is currently my oldest work in progress. I’ve actually used it for the blog a few times already. You can check out my tutorial for the diagonal disappearing nine patch design and my post on a no fuss method for making backing.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog!

I hope you enjoyed it.

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave me a comment or email me. I’d love to hear from you.

Happy quilting!