Batting and quilting question
 

Good morning!

I am making a quilt for someone (a relative) that I know will not appreciate any of the work. It is the largest I have ever quilted at 96 by 96 (12 rows of 8 inch blocks square). I am stitching in the ditch between all the blocks now.

My batting info says you can quilt up to 8 inches apart. So I was thinking...do between the blocks and be done with it.

Has anyone quilted that far apart and are there any ramifications?

Thanks for your expertise..

it depends on the look you like. as long as you meet the batting manufacturer's specifications, you should be fine. i did one that far apart and, when moving the quilt around, the fabric 'flopped around' from the non-quilted sections. since then, i quilt a little closer together. again, personal preference.

You should be ok since the batting says you can quilt 8 inches apart and the blocks are 8 inches. Just curious as to why you're making a quilt for someone you know won't appreciate all the work?

You could tie/embellish in the center of the squares that would make it closer at 4 inches and wouldn't take that long. Could do an "x".

My sentiments exactly for making a quilt for someone who won't appreciate it. I have found in the past those are the very people who will also pick it apart.

I have quilted that far apart and it's been OK. Generally I like more quilting but have made a few where I did either stitch in the ditch or straight row quilting, mostly when I first started quilting. They are all around, been washed and holding up well. My sister-in-law made a quilt for her husband and quilted it very sparingly. My brother-in-law washed the quilt years later and the batting shifted so that the quilt was useless. Since my sister-in-law was no longer around he gave the quilt to me to fix. I ripped the quilting out and put a new back on it as she had used some fuzzy material that was matted along with with a new batting. I tied that quilt because the patchwork was done in such a way that nothing matched much. I did tie it every few inches. What a job! The bottom line is it's OK to quilt as little as the batting instructions say but don't skimp beyond that.

I'd do diagonal lines through the squares across the whole quilt. That way you'll be sure it won't move around and it doesn't take long at all.

Bless you for putting all the time, money and energy in to something that you know won't be appreciated. You are a much better person than I am. If you follow the manufacturer's instructions you will be fine. This will get the quilt done quicker and you can start a new project for someone who will appreciate it. Maybe you should make something for yourself.

I am sorry that your work (and labor of love) will go unappreciated. Why not give them something else? And to answer your question, I have quilted 10" apart using Warm & Natural Batting.

I agree with athomenow/Debra I would be concerned that a person who doesn't appreciate the work involved also wouldn't be too careful washing it so you would want to be sure there wouldn't be problems with it.

The issue with 8" distances between quilting lines is that when the batting is wet from being laundered, the weight of it can pull against the quilting lines and cause the stitches to break. That said, since the recipient won't appreciate your gift, does this really matter?

I would do this. Then you will be sure that there aren't any problems later on. Just know you did a great job and that is all that really counts.

I don't pay attention to what the batting mfg says. They don't make quilts. Quilt as much as you believe necessary for look and stability. I believe your quilt needs more than 8 inches apart.

I have quilted even further apart than that and my quilt is still in one piece!

Thank you all for your help. I am going to add another line of quilting inthe middle down the middle of each block and will post a picture when I am done. It is the first large quilt I have done (thanks to my new Juki 2010). I put an extra table in my quilt room to hold the bulk and have missed alot of the 'ditches', but I am getting there. Thanks again!
P.S. It is for my MIL who wanted my hand pieced quilt, so this is my compromise...

I don't make quilts for someone if I know they will not appreciate it. They get purses, crocheted name doilies, or something else I think they WILL like.

I hope your effort and time does have some appreciation much more than my effort years ago. For Mother's Day I made my mother and my MIL each a quillow for their beds, king & full size. Both were white with a machine embroidered large rose of their favorite color on the pocket of each. I spent lots of time on these. I never did see my MIL use hers, and just assumed she had it put away for some reason. Later she had to move from her home in another town to be near her sons. Her home was given to a grandson. My DD rents that house now from the GS. DH and I were there helping DD with yard work two summers ago and I noticed a white mat (I thought) lying in front of one of the storage buildings. I picked it up only to discover that it was the pocket with emb. rose from MIL's quillow, that had been literally "cut off" of the quillow itself, who knows where the rest was. DD's puppy had drug it out of the storage building. I was absolutely furious, so was DH. So like others I would suggest perhaps keeping the quilt for yourself and giving MIL something else, as we all know making any size quilt takes lots of time and effort and should never go unappreciated.

I think you would be fine with the batting suggestions, however, if the quilt has blocks 8 inch square, I would probably just do an "X" through the squares, it's easy and quick, plus you'd be sure that there was enough quilting without overdoing it.

Do the best you can and gift it with a smile. You might be surprised.

I ended up doing wavy lines horizontally and vertically. Glad I didn't do anymore. When we went yesterday to give it to yesterday, she laid it on the bed over the ugliest comforter you have ever seen, she said it looked nice then folded it up and said she would use it for summer. (It was about 85 degrees here yesterday). I was so hurt. But my chore is done and she will NEVER get anything homemade from me again. Actually, it is my husband's mother, so he can pick out any cards, gifts from now on. I might add that I did it because she had sights on the quilt that took me a few years of hand piecing and there was no way i heck she was getting that one. Thanks for all the help.

Interesting - if she had "an eye" on a quilt you had hand-pieced - that sort of implies to me that she knew what you were doing - - - -