batting
 

I have a question. Our church group makes comforters from used sheets for the local homeless shelters and womens shelter. we make 11 inch blocks to the top and plain sheets for the bottom.

We recently changed from warm and natural batting - 100% cotton to Pellon 80/20 - as there is a big difference in the price - and our budget is nonexistant.

we are having difficulty with the batting. when it is sewed and ready to turn, we are finding that the batting seems to have stretched and is larger than the top and bottom layer. we find we are ripping out about half of our blankets.

does anyone else have this issue? we don't know if it is the batting or the method in which the person putting it together is doing it.

thank you for your thoughts.

any suggestions?

when you say you are finding it's stretched when you are ready to turn it, do you mean you are "birthing it"? not sure about that. my guild did a major charitable project and also found the Pellon 80/20 less expensive (they may have different levels of quality, I don't know) and found it Very linty on the LA.

not sure what you mean by birthing it. personally all my quilts are on a frame - but we don't do that at church. the batting is laid out on the table, then the bottom is put on that and the top layer on that one. they are sewed around, leaving an opening for turning. when we get to stitching the last side, are finding that the batting is bigger or longer than the top and bottom. and we have to rip it out. i was not involved when they used the warm and natural but i did suggest the 80/20 as i use that (but a different brand) in my quilts. it is so much cheaper and we have no budget. some members of the group think the batting is stretching. i am not sure if it is the batting or the workmanship. any suggestions?

a bit of clarification - we are finding that the batting is bigger or longer when we do the top stitching on the finished blanket. there are rolls and wrinkles in the batting. which makes me think it is the workmanship and the pressure of the sewing along the sides pushes the batting to one end. not explaining this too well.

If you are stitching around the edge with the batting on the bottom, are you using a walking foot? If you are using a regular foot with the batting on the bottom, the lower feed dogs may be stretching the batting. Using a walking foot when stitching should help all the layers move as one.

thank you. no. the machines were donated years ago and probably cannot get different feet. the person who lays them out claims this never happened with the warm and natural but it is the 80/20. the layers are supposed to be hand pressed and smoothed and pinned every square - i don't think she is doing it. i have put together a double bed size (we normally do twin) and pinned it once, then gone over it a second time and stitched it at home. we will know later in the week if it is good.

I also sew with a church group and while I make no claim to fame as a quilter, I am surprised at the number of people who can't sew and or follow directions!! That being said, it sounds as if you need a walking foot. We work with donated materials and have several vintage machines. I was able to find reasonably priced walking feet for two of them.

I've found that too myself.

I agree with others, it's hard to "birth" a large quilt. There is too much play in between the fabric and batting on both sides. Sometimes binding is the best way to go.

Did you do any basting? Try basting the batting to one of the layers, maybe the top with large machine stitches. You take them out as you quilt.

I would never use the birthing method (sew around and then turn right side out through an opening) with anything as big as a sheet. It would be nearly impossible to get flat, straight results. My method is to layer everything flat and smooth, baste or pin the heck out of it, and then quilt. Lastly, apply binding.

many many thanks to everyone who had ideas - they are greatly appreciated.

will see if we can find a walking foot for the machines. the blankets are tied - not quilted - and we do so many a year that they would never agree to a binding. 50 twins and maybe 100 babies (all my hand quilted quilts are done on grandma's quilt frames and i put on a binding). these people will not. I finally got them to quit using corduroy for the quilts. i even found a pair of thermal back drapes in the stash i inherited from the last worker. that hit the garbage can pdq. we are making progress one step at a time. all our older ladies ( 80 +) no longer help and the next generation 60ish is taking over. Many have no clue how to even sew. i think being in a hurry might also be part of the problem.

again i thank you so much and appreciate your ideas. will see what we can do.

I would lay the batting out, spread one layer over it, right side up and pin it profusely (closed safety pins, of course). Put on the other layer, right side down, stitch the edges as usual, turn the quilt, smooth it and remove the pins as you tie it. The batting you are using now is softer and has less body than the Warm and Natural (which is why I like it better than W & W), so pinning should take care of the issue. On the other hand, have you considered a poly batting? Some of those have less 'give'.

Maybe spraying with 505 on the first layer, then make the sandwich, stitch and birth. That layer won't shift or "grow" at all!

I thought of that, but it would add to the expense and then there's the issue of overspray. In addition, some of us older group members don't want to breath the fumes.

Me, too. the birthing method only seems to work on very small projects for me.

Susie,

You don't say where you are located but you might trying to contact a local guild and or quilt shop, for several reasons. They may be able to offer the ladies free basic quilting lessons, sounds like some might need it. Perhaps they might be willing to supply walking feet for a discount or free. You may be able to get some donated supplies since it's all for charity. I'd also check with local stores that take donations (i.e. Goodwill) and see if they will call you if they get in sewing supplies/fabric so you get first look. See if the local quilt shop has a bulletin board that you can request donations. People are all the time downsizing, or getting rid of the "why did I buy this" fabrics.

I agree with the others as far as the batting, you need to pin it or baste it to keep it from shifting and stretching. (by the way turning it inside out is considered birthing, not sure if that was clarified in the other posts)

Lastly I wanted to say welcome to the quilt board and thank you for giving your time to help others.

Birthing=something big out of a small hole, that's what we call turning a quilt.

susiecute, here is a link to the simple instructions that Lutheran World Relief has for its quilts:
https://lwr.org/get-involved/quilts The "filler" the instructions mention is batting or a substitute.
Many churches use this method and make at least as many or more quilts per year than your group does. They are successful because they layer, then tie, and then do a foldover binding. The binding is fairly wide, which is easier to sew. A walking foot helps prevent pleats in the binding.

Best wishes in your efforts to improve quality, reduce expenses, and make the process enjoyable in your group.

Are your machines low shank? I have an extra walking foot I could send you if that is what your machine takes.

I found the Pellon batting awful to work with - sheds all over and stretches. Perhaps some of the non sewers could fund raise for the supplies. I make charity guilts for my guild and always want to give something that I would be happy to give too a-loved one.

Linda and Irish Rose have two very good ideas. Stabilize the the batting layer to one other layer before turning.

Another way to do this quickly, easily and cheaply is with Elmer's School Glue. Make lines of the glue on the batt, place top or back on that, right side up, and iron the glue dry. Then put the other piece on face down, pin just enough to hold the outside in place and sew all around the outside, except for enough to turn the sandwich. Up to 24 inches may be needed. Then birth the quilt (turn it right side out). Now your are ready to tie it.

There are several posts on this board that give precise instructions on using the school glue.

The way you are doing it is called birthing (turning inside out). May I suggest you 'self bind'. Lay your layers out as you would a 'regular' quilt you are making. Have the backing about 3" bigger than the batting and the front. (I would run a row of stitching around the edge at this point to hold everything, but not absolutely necessary.) Fold the extra backing over twice towards the front to create a binding, then stitch. Fold it in half (1 1/2") then fold onto front for 1 1/2" binding and stitch it down. Then you do not need to topstitch, you have a larger binding to hold and perhaps not pull and stretch and the batting is inside instead of next to feeddogs and being pulled. But, you do not have a separate binding to come loose later on. It can withstand a lot of use. I often use this technique with my very young students on their first quilts - quick, easy and it always works.

I tried an 80/20 just once, thought it was horrible to work with, never again. Realizing your budget concerns I feel for your frustrations.
Maybe a fundraiser(maybe a bake sale at Fellowship after church services?) to enable the group to purchase a roll of W&N when it it goes on sale(JoAnn's Fabric) at the Holidays?? Thinking it's even offered with free shipping. Just an idea...

If I were going to “birth” a quilt, I would glue baste the batting to the backing fabric first to be sure the batting laid flat inside after “birthing”. After gluing, I take my blowdryer and dry it quickly. I have no patience or room to let it air dry.

Thanks for the link. all this time i thought we were making them the same was as lwr pattern!! i just joined this group about a 18 months ago and thought they were using that pattern. they are not. hmmm. wonder who came up with this idea? i had laid out a double bed with the pellon batting and took it in tonight and laid it out on the tables. it is a disaster - it is bunched up and wrinkled and will have to be torn out. the consensus tonight was to go back to the warm and natural. we have gone through maybe 4 rolls of the pellon - this one is the worst - wondered if the supplier or something had changed (it came from walmart). someone mentioned goodwill on this thread - we get our sheets from goodwill, salvation army, volunteers of america (last tuesday of the month when everything is half off) as well as estate and garage sales. since we started using sheets - the blankets are much prettier than the willy nilly patterns thrown together.

to date we have received several grants from Thrivent for service projects - but the grants are not big enough to purchase the warm and natural batting.

we shall see how the new batting works. many thanks to everyone for their thoughts and ideas.