Question to older quilters?
 

I have not been quilting long and never had anyone in the family
quilt so i have self taught myself
my question is?
A dear friend was talking about old quilts she can remember as a child
how they were great to lay on the ground to play on
she said she remember hearing them say how hard they were to pull the
(batting) not sure what they were using it would have been from the
50's early 60"s
does anyone have any idea what they are talking about
i would to be able to help her

They could have been referring to "carding". It is a process done on many fibers to prepare them for use from the raw form.

Here is a link that explains it. At the bottom of the first page continued on to the second.

http://www.villagequiltworks.com/ima...ttingChart.pdf


The physical act of carding is kind of like pulling. They lay the fibers on a brush that looks like a big curry brush used in animal grooming. Then another brush is pulled over the first one. It aligns the fibers and removes vegetable matter. Very common in much older quilts then the 50s and 60s though. However the process is still done today so maybe if your friend was brought up in an agricultural community it could have been carding.

Edited to add, it is my understanding carding was hard tedious work.

I started quilting in the mid 60s and have no clue what she means.

Yes. Years ago quilters did not have available what we do today and batting was not bought on a roll. It was bought in bulk hunks, cotton or wool.. Before layering it, it had o be "pulled" apart evenly and spread over the backing. As you can imagine, this was difficult and time consuming. Often quilters re-used quilts or blankets in place of batting, to save all this work. When you see old quilts with lumpy batting it was because there was not enough actual quilting, or the quilts were tied. Aren't we lucky today??

Sounds like one of two things.

1. Trying to straighten out the batting after washing the quilt.

2. The birthing process. Trying to pull the whole quilt through the little hole left after sewing the whole thing together. And trying to get the batting to lie flat after birthing so you can quilt it.

For #1, the only thing I can think of would be to use a fork that will go through the fabric so you can move the batting around.

For #2, leave a larger hole for birthing. You could use spray adhesive to hold the batting to the backing. Then it will be easier to straighten out the top. OR you could use spray adhesive the hold the whole sandwich together and then quilt it and then put binding on.

Sue

I remember my grandmother talking about doing the "carding". She would tell us how they bought or made their own batting in bulk bags and used combs like things to flatten and connect the pieces together to make a sheet of batting like felting wool I suppose.

Just so happen to have a pair of carders...My mother used them in the 40's and 50's..she took cotton that was just picked and carded them to take out the seeds...they are now on display in my sewing room...love vintage things like that...they still have bits of cotton in them......that is short wire bristles on the paddles...[ATTACH=CONFIG]405718[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]405719[/ATTACH]

For the ones not knowing what carders were...
 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]405720[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]405721[/ATTACH] These belonged to my mother...she used them in the 40's and 50's to card the cotton...(that she picked) to take out the seeds..so she could use the cotton in her quilts...Hard work...I have these on display in my sewing room...they are priceless...I remember her doing this...

This is interesting. I have some carders. I'm wondering, how did she use the cotton in her quilting?

Just FYI you can still get these from a few companies that sell spinning fiber. :) (In case anyone was interested)

I don't remember that part...I just remember sitting and watching her card the cotton...I should have ask her I guess...but she's gone now..I lost her in Feb 2004 at the age of 93...quilted all her adult life..and then I started quilting with her..in later years...I have her featherweight ...and my wonderful memories...