Pat P

Thanks for the tip on flannel on back of lap quilts for nursing homes. Hadn't thought of the sliding off.

Wintersewer

I never us anything but flannel, but I do wash and dry it twice before using it. I frequently buy flannel sheets for this purpose. JCPenney has nice ones on sale for half price at this time of year. Thousands of Bolts also has wide flannel backing in nice heavy material. I'm careful to pin a lot and have never had any puckering.

katz_n_kwiltz

First, I dont wash any fabrics at all, until the quilt is done, and flannel is so nice on the back of a quilt, makes it so much more cozy n warm, I also love minkee (which is expensive) but soooooo worth it.
katz

Wunder-Mar

One of my guilds had this very question during a long arm quilter's program last evening. All three long arm quilters recommend washing the backing fabric in one piece in hot water and drying it on medium high heat - and then doing it again.

GrannieAnnie

put the flannel thru a couple very hot washes and then a couple very warm dryings and it will be SHRUNK!

hsquiltingmom

I don't know that there is a certain distance other than for what your batting suggests. If the batting says 2-4" apart, then I would go on the smaller end and do 2" I love working with flannel. In fact, I am cutting out at least 2 baby quilts today that are all flannel. They are so nice and soft and cozy. I just love them. I make my baby quilts 45x60 and gave one to my friends for their first baby. The dad loved having cuddle time with the baby, because he could curl up with the quilt as well. Maybe I need to make them a flannel quilt.

ckcowl

ive backed more quilts than i can count with flannel- it is one of my very favorite fabrics!
just pre-wash it and dry it- (i've been using flannels for 45+years and only pre-wash once- not 2 or 3 times- i've never had an *adverse* effect)
i toss it into the washer on a warm -regular setting- then i toss it into the dryer (flannel is a looser weave and will fray more than regular cottons- that's why its so good for raggy quilts) so you can either *use pinking shears- or zig=zag or use a serger* on the cut edges- to help control the fraying or even place the yardage in a large mesh bag-
i most of the time don't bother- i deal with the tangled mess of strings when it comes out- but some folks tend to really freak out when they see those-so you might want to (spare yourself the trauma)
flannel quilts up beautifully- and each time the quilt is washed/dried it will only get softer/cozier- and oh so nice.
choose a good quality flannel- fairly heavy- i use double napped benartex flannels most of the time- moda's *woolies* flannels are also wonderful.

Writergrrl

When you use your flannel backing, what kind of batting are you using? Cotton?

tjradj

Flannel makes a wonderfully cuddly backing. As others have said - prewash it. Prewash it in the harshest conditions you can dream up = hot water, heavy detergent and hot rinse, and hot dryer. That way the 'damage' is done before you get it into your quilt and no matter what that quilt goes through later, the flannel won't present a problem.
Flannel is great not only for kid's quilts, but also for lap quilts and quilts for people in wheelchairs. The flannel clings to your clothes, or the bed, and won't let the quilt slip off.