Batting/quilting Myth
 

So many times when questions about amount of quilting that should be on a quilt, or "how should I Quilt it" and similar questions including design to quilt the answer is "check the recommendation on the batting package". I believe many confuse this with the decision the quilter should make. I asked a batting manufacturer what the statement meant and was told that it means how far or close it should be quilted to prevent the batting from bunching or falling apart in repeated washings. He told me the test was based on 50 washings. Let us not use these statements by the batting manufacturers as a design choice but rather when discussing the stability of the quilt according to its intended use.

I always understood it to mean how far apart to quilt so it holds up, not the design.

that was my understanding, also.

Me, too. Although that could and should influence how you quilt a quilt.

I always read the batting package directions, but I have never made a quilting design decision based on the batting. However, I almost always quilt closely, because earlier in my quilting, I had a quilt I made on my bed and pulled the quilt up and heard thread snap and break. It turned out to be my quilting stitches, but it reminded me that there is stress on quilts that we don't think about. Also, I mostly use pantographs and if my quilt has a lot of smaller pieces, then I look for a denser quilting pattern. I don't want any extra stress on all those seams. If it is larger squares, with bigger pieces in them, then a more open pattern is okay.

However, having said that, I know some quilters who stitch in the ditch for everything. If you are using big squares (12"), then these exceed even the W&N instructions.

I have a cheap quilt that I like and got from Wally World before I started quilting myself. The quilting was all linear stitches across the entire quilt going only one way, about every 2 to 3 inches. When I washed it, the quilting bunched up between every one of those lines. I have been debating as to whether I want to rip all those stitches out and redo it. Probably will, one of these days. Hubby bought a comforter from WM that he fell in love with. The quilting on it was linear and had a 12 inch span. I knew I didn't want to wash that quilt. But it got dirty....thank you puppies! Before I washed it, I put it on my long arm and added more quilting between each of the linear lines and it washed beautifully.

This. If you are using a batting that says it needs to be quilted 2” apart, you don’t just outline 12” blocks and call it good. So it is certainly true that the batting choice influences the quilting design. I make a number of quilts for Quilts for Kids. They get washed and dried in industrial machines, sometimes daily. I use Warm and Natural with a 10” minimum quilting need, but I quilt with a 2” basis to handle the washing and drying. I get so sad when I see lovely pieced quilts that don’t have enough quilting to withstand washing more than a couple of times before the batting gets lumpy.

Maybe I am not fully understanding what you are saying, but I will make a comment about not quilting enough on a quilt. A quilting friend made a beautiful wedding quilt, hand quilted per the instructions on the batting as to the "minimum required" (which was approx. 10") and when she gently washed it to remove the markings, the batting bunched up in quite a few places. She had to make slits into the backing and smooth out the batting, repair the slit, and add more quilting. As far as I'm concerned, I would rather have more than the minimum, and not take the chance of batting bunching.
I also "prefer" the look of a wall hanging that has enough quilting so that it doesn't sag when hung.

Just my preferences, for sure.

If so dense it feels like cardboard, that doesn't for comfort make, in my opinion. Too far apart and you risk lumpiness and the whole thing falling apart after many washings. It seems that a "minimum" of 10" is much too liberal. That sounds more like an absolute maximum, but even so, makes me shake my head. I'm of the mindset that 5" is a better maximum (you still get a fluffy quilt) but that some motifs have lines as close as 1/2" apart in places, which is very aesthetically appealing if it enhances the piecing.

Probably a happy medium for making sure that 12" blocks won't bunch up would be to at least stitch an X through each one and of course also "in the ditch", right?

That's always been my understanding, too. I don't see questions about "how close should I quilt this?" and "how should I quilt this?" as the same thing. The first asks how much quilting should be put on the quilt and the answer of "check the recommendation on the package" is appropriate. The second is a design question so the answer will be much different.

To be honest, I'm only confused by your post. I've never seen a recommendation on ANY batting package that specifies a single word about what design the quilter should use to quilt his/her quilt with. It simply says, as others have pointed out, the recommended density of the quilting stitches. When we discuss quilting designs, there are always reminders about how densely to quilt it, but I find this to be appropriate to the conversation as the denseness needed WILL affect your design.

Sorry, I am also confused by your post. Are you saying we can ignore the manufacturer's minimum quilting information because it's not a requirement for durability, it's just a myth?

I like to make "utility" quilts that will be washed and worn till they fall apart (Hopefully that will take a couple of decades!) I am not a fan of quilting 1 one 2 inches apart...feels like cardboard to me...and not the warmth I had intended...Personal preference to be sure!

I never quilt less than 1-1/2" apart. I usually do FMQ. When I do straight line quilting I make an X across the squares, usually no bigger than 5" finished blocks. My quilts are never stiff, not even QAYG.

It was probably Warm and Natural batting, which is needlepunched through scrim (making it very stable) and gives a max quilting distance of 10". I have to wonder if your friend washed the quilt in a top-loading machine with a central agitator and allowed it to agitate. That kind of central agitator is hard on batting, even for short periods of time. Top-loaders that do not have central agitating posts, and front-loaders, are much easier on quilts.

Also, just as a general rule, the 10" quilting distance works way better for large pieces of fabric than for blocks composed of a lot of small, pieced fabrics.

Regarding close quilting resulting in a cardboard feeling, I discovered that problem on a doll quilt that I heavily quilted with regular cotton thread. What I have found since then is that dense quilting will not stiffen a quilt as long as the quilting thread is polyester. I have densely machine quilted a large quilt with Glide polyester thread, which has a similar thickness to the cotton thread I used in the doll quilt, and the dense quilting did not stiffen up the quilt at all. It all depends on the thread.

......... and the batting too .............

The batting directions are not a recommendation for how closely a quilt should be quilted, but tell the minimum amount of quilting that must be done to stabilize the batting. That recommendation is not related in any way to the idea of what sort of quilting design would enhance the piecing of the quilt (since the batting manufacturer doesn't know what top the batting is being used with). I think most people understand this distinction.

[QUOTE=Prism99;7961401]Regarding close quilting resulting in a cardboard feeling, I discovered that problem on a doll quilt that I heavily quilted with regular cotton thread. What I have found since then is that dense quilting will not stiffen a quilt as long as the quilting thread is polyester. I have densely machine quilted a large quilt with Glide polyester thread, which has a similar thickness to the cotton thread I used in the doll quilt, and the dense quilting did not stiffen up the quilt at all. It all depends on the thread.


Good to know. I'm going to try polyester thread on my next quilt. So far I've only used cotton on everything.

Yes, definitely the batting affects stiffness too. Warm and Natural batting has the stiffest drape of any battings I have tried; however, I have noticed that with each washing it becomes a little softer. This means I will keep it in mind when making children's quilts that will get washed many times before they fall apart. It is also great for wallhangings which get washed infrequently, as it remains very stable when hanging up.

Some of the softer battings I have tried are Hobbs 80/20 (a great all-around batting for my uses), Hobbs PolyDown (love the loft and softness, but found it more difficult to longarm quilt), and wool (which I think is ideal but haven't used enough yet to be sure). Some of the thinner all-cotton battings are very nice in terms of softness and drape, but do not offer much stitch definition for the quilting (which is sometimes desirable).

Hope this isn't too far off-topic.....

Definitely not off-topic ..... and good info to learn and understand.
However, I do think many of us are somewhat mystified confused as to the topic.



Quilt30 ... perhaps you could clarify?
And too, perhaps we are the ones not understanding your intent.

as QuiltE say, the batting too--a bat with a scrim always seems stiffer to me. But a wool or med loft poly can have the crud quilted out of it and still stay "drapey".

I am one who ditch stitches around blocks or major design elements for stability as I work. The, I add the design quilting using a variety of threads. I use Bottom Line for the ditch stitching and mostly King Tut for the decorative or design quilting. I am branching out into some polyester threads. I use mostly 80/20 batting but have used silk and wool and really like them. We have so many options and get so many different results. I took a class many years ago from Harriet Hargrave for machine quilting. She gave us (for a price) a stack of 15 or 18 inch squares of a variety of batting samples. We put tops and backing on them and made samples. A great teaching experience. I put labels on mine so I could see what would happen with various combinations. This would be a great guild project. Several people could each buy a specified batt, bring it to class and share with others in order to get a variety of samples.

quilting distance for Batting.
 

I always use the rule of thumb - a fist apart. It makes it so much easier to remember

I understand the manufacturer's recommendation to be the absolute minimum of quilting required to keep the quilt together after a wash. If I put a lot of effort into making a quilt, I definitely won't skimp on the quilting and stay in the minimum range. The design will have to be adjusted to fit the quilt.

It's a good reminder, particularly for beginners, that we need to understand all aspects of the quilting process - quilting distance based on batting being one of those factors.