I have made a simple Nap throw with charm packs for my sisters birthday. this is my very first quilt. I want it light but not to light as its ment for napping on the couch. what would I use for Batting? how much do I need to get? Also I need to get backing for this as well. How do I chose a backing? When i get the backing, do I try to get enough fabric to match the seam with the stitching on the front of the quilt? I am going to do a stitchin the ditch.
I am learning as I go from books and from this list. thanks for your help. JoAnn
throw is folded in pic. it is 76" x 61"

after looking at the quilt, I wont be able to do the stitchin teh ditch as my blocks arent perfectly matched. any ideas on how to quilt this with out making my mistakes more prominant? JoAnn

I'm by no means an expert, as I'm still in the beginner stage, but you could try quilting the diagonals. They seem to line up pretty well. You'd have diagonal lines instead of straight lines as with stiching in the ditch.

I hope you understand what I mean, English is not my first language and I'm tired, so my explanation might leave something to be desired.

i like a cotton batting - definitely don't like polyester batting. Instead of stitch in the ditch - why not put an X in each block?

I too prefer cotton batting. I would do some type of meandering - it takes your eyes off the mistakes and onto the quilting.

When using cotton fabrics always use a cotton or wool batting. If the quilt is going to need washing fairly often then for sure use cotton. Polyester batting will completely destroy cotton fabric in 20-30 years. Learned this in my quilt restoration workshops.

I would add a border around the whole quilt. It doesn't need to be a wide border just something to separate the blocks from the binding. Any color you think would look nice with the general look of the quilt a matching backing would be nice to use with the binding. What about quilting a circle in the space of four adjoining blocks, give it a little bit of curve so it has more movement than just angular lines. Use string and a chalk marker to make the circles or trace around something that fits inside the four blocks. Just an idea to kick around.

I use Quilters Dream Blend batting. It is 70% cotton and 30% polyester. They claim it is made for machine quilting and it is a nice weight. I think an "x" in each square would do nicely for the quilting.

Diagonal quilting would look very nice. Your backing needs to be bigger than your top all the way around (batting too). Then you'll trim it when you are done quilting. I use Warm and Natural cotton batting for almost everything. It's thin and stays put, it other words you can't pull it out of shape like Hobbs. You've done a marvelous job on your first quilt. Have fun on your quilting journey.

I love this quilt!! Looks like you got some good suggestions here. But like lisalovesquilting said make sure the batting and backing are bigger than the top and square off after the quilting is done.

Your first quilt is just beautiful! ;) You have done a wonderful job and I think it looks MUCH better than my first quilt did! Lol*

As for how much backing fabric you want to buy - here is the way I do it. I layer my batting giving myself about an inch and a half (but I eyeball it) of additional batting around all four edges of my quilt. Then I layer that on top of my backing and I want to see about an inch sticking out around all four edges of my batting. So you see all three layers when quilting. You can get away with a little less, but give yourself more batting and backing than your top, your quilt will shrink up a bit when you quilt it so you'll need that extra. Then you'll trim and square it up after you've finished quilting. You may have to piece your backing to fit or you can purchase backing fabric that usually comes off the bolt in 60" wide yardage.

I use all kinds of batting. A low loft cotton is the "in" thing these days, but years ago people didn't dream of using anything less than the highest loft polyester batting they could find! It's personal preference. Cotton is a little heavier than polyester, and I like the look myself because it is reminiscent of antique quilts. Unless you are making a King size quilt though cotton doesn't usually get so heavy that it would be uncomfortable.

I often use Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 batting (80 percent cotton and 20 percent polyester) which I buy at Jo Ann's in a bag. They are already precut so you can get a crib, twin, queen, or king size cut. Hobbs is really nice because they treat each side of the batting so that there is no bearding, even with wear. It's probably my favorite batting but a little more pricey so I save it for my best projects.

More often I choose Warm and White or Warm and Natural sold in 90" wide cuts off the bolt at Jo Ann's. I believe it goes for something like $10.99 a yard. You should be able to get a two yard cut of that and have plenty for your quilt. I believe W&W is the better choice for machine quilting while W&N is a great choice for hand quilting. But I have used both for both purposes and been happy with the results. Also this goes on sale a lot at Jo-Ann's and I believe they even have a sale coming up soon on batting. This does brand does beard a little bit so I would use a topstich or comparably fine needle when you're quilting.

I think sewing x's diagonally through your squares would be a great way to go - or even a free motion meander. I understand you're still new to quilting but don't be afraid of free motion. A meander is REALLY simple to do and I think is even easier than trying to get perfect lines accross your quilt.