Originally Posted by Deeds
Hi all,
I hope someone may be able to advise me as I haven't a clue how to proceed. I have lots of questions.
Mainly I sew, cross-stitch, but over the years I have made a couple of dozen 16" square embroideries that I would love to turn into quilts. I have just started on a embroidered edging for the first one.
I have sewn the squares together to the correct size for the bed but am now completely at a loss on how to do the batting. I would like to just quilt it along the stitching lines that join the squares together, is that possible or does the stitching need to be much closer togther?
Do I quilt through the three layers (top, batting and base)?
I would like to use a washable batting, which one is best?
Sorry to bombard you with so many questions, hope it's no too much to ask.
Thanks.
Hello Deeds, and welcome to your new obsession!
Quilting is a pretty magical kind of thing. I will try to address your questions as best I can. Your embroideries CAN be turned into a quilt successfully, and you are asking all the right questions to make sure you don't blow it. It would be a shame to take beautiful work and make a mess of it.
Yes, you can just stitch along the seams of the squares, but I would recommend some other stitching as well as most battings need to be quilted a bit more closely to avoid bunching and migrating of the batting upon washing. Depending on how large the center of your embroidery is, perhaps you can run a quilting stitch around the perimeter of the design in each block?
Yes, you quilt through all three layers. Your quilting stitches will serve to attach all three layers together securely. Think of it like stapling papers together. If you only staple the top two, the bottom one will "float" away.
As to your question about the batting, I believe most battings are washable.
It would be helpful to you to pick up a good basic book on quilting. Harriet Hargraves books are tremendous for machine quilting, and there are many good books that can help show you how to hand quilt.
My best suggestion would be to go to your local quilt shop (LQS) and ask if there is someone who has experience in hand quilting (I assume you are planning to do this by hand) who might be willing to give you some tips and pointers. Perhaps that person can help get you going and her advance and encouragement will be invaluable to you.
Best of luck in putting this together. Never be afraid to ask even the most basic questions. We all have to start somewhere. And post pictures of what you end up doing!
Hope This Helps,
Odessa