I've done a lot of wearable art. I never use batting. I don't want to end up looking like the little boy in Christmas Story who says "I can't put my arms down!" lol. I use flannel or nothing. If I'm going to use flannel, I usually quilt the outer fabric to the flannel and then add the lining. If I don't use any flannel or batting, I use something a bit heavier than normal quilting cotton, like bottom weight twill and attach the blocks directly to the backing with a stitch and flip if possible. Then I quilt it lightly and bind.
As to quilting, that's at your discretion. One thing I will tell you is that a lot of quilting will also make the jacket stiff. I do quilt sleeves because when you attach them you will be attaching at least 2 layers of fabric and having them quilted makes it a bit easier to do this without ending up with puckers along the seam line.
I never launder my wearable art. I'm careful and remove my jackets when I'm eating so when they do need to be cleaned, I just send them to the dry cleaners. It happens so rarely that I don't mind the expense and they always come back looking great.
Good luck. I can hardly wait to see the finished product!
Last edited by cashs_mom; 01-13-2020 at 08:09 AM.