How Far Apart will you quilt Warm & Natural
 

I have a quilt to put together now and I want to go around 8.5" squares. I think the package says something like it's okay to quilt up to 11" apart, but I am still a little nervous. Usually I do about 6" apart and I've never had someone tell me it's fallen apart on them.

Can anyone make me feel a little bit better about this? If I go inside the squares I'll feel a little bit defeated as I have "spoken" to this quilt and it doesn't want to be quilted that way ;)

Hmmm, I quilt everything probably, 3" or 4" at the most, but I just like a lot of quilting. I don't always necessarily take what the package says as rule. I think in most circumstances you're better off doing a little more quilting than less. I think if you're hesitant then trust your instinct! :)

I usually quilt a little more closley than that. Maybe about 3 inches is about as far as I get.

the recommendations on the packaging are the maximum amount that should be left unquilted to avoid separation of fibers- meaning with warm & natural it is ok to leave 10" of unquilted space if you wish...closer is always ok- leaving more space could mean separation could happen...if you want to quilt w&n every 2" you can- you can quilt as close as you choose as long as it's at least every 10"...that goes with any batting you are using- if the recommendation is every 4" you can quilt totally close, every 1", 2" 3" or 4"...if you quilt every 6" or 8" you risk separation of fibers...

I was taught to leave no more space than the size of your fist. But...the size of my fist differs from the size of my sister's fist, which differs from ... I think it also depends on how the quilt will be used.

Listen to the quilt. It has already spoken to the batting.

Seriously, if the batting package says 11", that's good enough.

If the package says 10" apart is okay, then I generally quilt that far apart but I like less quilting. My quilts are regularly washed and none of them have fallen apart. They have a puffier look than the flat look of heavy quilting. Depends on what you like.

i am very fond of Warm & Natural, so this is absolutely not a complaint or criticism of that product.

the batting shrank more than i expected when i threw a recently made quilt into the dryer.
i relied on the package estimate of "safe" quilting distance.

i should have listened to my instincts and habits, which say no more than 3" apart - preferably no more than 2".

if you plan to never throw it into a dryer, though, the package is more or less correct.

I have seen a quilt that was hand quilted every 10" with warm & natural. It was a wedding gift & when washed the guild member brought it in to show us how it had areas where the batting had migrated into a lump. She had to cut slits in the backing & remove batting & replace & restitch. Even if you just take a couple pieces of fabric that are 10" and put some batt in it, you can see the 3 pieces do not lay nice & flat after washing, try a little sample.