Thread: 2013 UFO Challenge of the Month

Hurray JNCT1! You did it, it's done, you learned something and now you can work on something fun!

"And another one's down, and another one's down, and another one bites the dust..."
Lovely quit!!

That looks awesome!!!! Love it.

I want to hear more about the admonition against sheeting. I used sheeting on a recent quilt and noticed no difficulty in hand quilting. What difficulty did you run into ?

That sounds like the discussion of why would you put in those old blankets inbetween a quilt as batting? I do that when I have them in my scrap quilts, they are just as warm if not warmer than cotton and quilt up just as well.

Originally Posted by jillaine

I want to hear more about the admonition against sheeting. I used sheeting on a recent quilt and noticed no difficulty in hand quilting. What difficulty did you run into ?

JCNT14 - Did ya use a high thread count sheet? I bet that was the problem. I used some slightly worn sheets or some cheap sheets w/a lower thread count & didn't have the same problem as I had w/ the high thread count sheets.

Yes it was high thread count so the needling was really tough, the batting bearded all over the place and when i gave up on hand quilting the durned thing and went to machine it, the top thread kept shredding - yu could actually hear it pop as the needle went into the fabric. I probably should have washed the sheeting to get the sizing out of it - that may have helped as well. UGH

LOL, I just love it when "cheap" is the best thing to use. I use sheets all the time. Mostly for piecing since I primarily use fleece for my backings. I always check the thread content and 'feel' of the fabric. I also agree that washing the sizing out, in this case, would have been helpful. As a rule tho, I sit in the "do not prewash" camp.
I find most of my sheets in the thrift stores so prewashing them is usually not something to decide about. LOL
Just wanted to add, our local Real Deals dollar store often has fleece on huge rolls for $1.00 a linear foot. When they have colors that are realistic for my quilt back, I snap them up.

JNCT14 - your quilt is beautiful and I really appreciate hearing about your lessons learned too. My Mom hand quilted a bed size quilt and said NEVER AGAIN and after doing my 1st HQ very small project last month I would agree. I loved the look but was oh so happy it was 9 blocks of limited quilting. And now I appreciate using my machine for quilting all the more!

Wildyard - I do a lot of string blocks on muslin and love using fleece as one step batting & backing for kids quilts. It adds such a soft cuddly feel and makes the quilt a perfect weight (IMO) for a small child. I pick it up whenever I get find a bargain too.

Thank you Lots2do!