Originally Posted by Ellen 1

I often see posts where someone is asking for help with their quilting plans and refer to the batting packaging to see how far apart the batting can be quilted.

A tip for beginning/newer quilters:

Please do not rely on the back of the batting packaging. The directions on the batting that says you can quilt 10” apart is the maximum distance between quilting stitches for the Batting alone. It is not advise for the distance in the Quilting motifs.

The quilting needs to be closer than 10”! The farthest stitching away from the next quilting motifs/stitching should be about a “fist width” apart. (This is not an exact measure so don’t blast me for this). :-)

The reason for quilting closer than 10”: Is to preserve the life of the quilt.

It stops the shifting of the batting (especially when it is washed). It keeps the quilt from sagging. It helps keep the stitching threads from breaking. It helps prevent the piecing from coming undone/ripping. It adds to the beauty of the finished quilt. I could go on.....

I know some people do not like very dense quilting. And some say, “it is your quilt, do what you want”. This is true. However, the “fist width” recommendation is for the longevity of your quilt. (This is what we all aspire to). (It also adds to the beauty of your quilting). You can quilt as dense or as loose as you like.

I hope this helps someone that is deciding how/what to quilt and are not sure how far apart to quilt the motifs from each other.

“The Quilt Police”. ;-)