Easy quilting helps for a baby quilt
 

I do not want to send my quilt out as I have only two weeks to get it finished. It is all pieced and today I am very troubled as to how to quilt the top and also what batting to use. I do not do free motion. Thinking of straight lines and some curvy lines. Made a couple of samples, washed and dried (fabric and batting had been washed) and the pieces came out quite wrinkled. It looks like the fabric was before I pressed and starched it when getting it ready to cut and piece. I used good quality fabric and Hobbs batting. Do I quilt close together or farther apart to make the quilt look less wrinkled when washed. Please help. I only have a few days to finish as I am not able to quilt everyday.

Check the batting or Hobbs website. It will tell you how close to quilt.
Here are some ideas on straight line quilting.
http://blog.petitdesignco.com/2012/10/31-days-of-walking-foot-quilting.html


Edit: Sorry, this should have been walking foot quilting and not just straight line.

The "crinkled" look is what a lot of us like. Antique quilts all look like this because the cotton batting shrank when the quilt was washed. If you do not want this look, you need to use a polyester batting (does not shrink at all). Hobbs Polydown is a nice one.

I would think that more quilting lines would result in a less-wrinkled look. Try another sample with closer quilting. (If it is a lot closer, you may want to switch to a finer weight thread to avoid adding stiffness.)

the crinkled look comes from using cotton batting, for less of a crinkle you could use a nice polyester or even wool batting. there are some very nice poly batts that do not shrink at all and make nice lofty, soft quilts. the batting package should tell you how close you need to quilt- some batts need to be quilted every 2", some allow up to 10" between lines, it's important to follow the guidelines so the batting does not separate & fall apart inside the quilt. it is always ok to quilt more dense than is recommended-just not less. heavy quilting (might) decrease the crinkling, or some people pre-shrink their batts...if you want to go that route make sure you follow the instructions (also on the package) for doing so, so you don't wind up with a big mess.

I used the rinse and spin cycle on my wash machine and dried the batting in the dryer. Also, I have read in several places, it is not advisable to use polyester batting for a baby quilt.

Was the batting Hobbs 80/20? Or another Hobbs? And how far apart were your quilting lines?

Thanks for the straight line quilting site. It is very helpful.

The batting is Hobbs 80/20. Lines were about 1/2" apart.

Batting should have the maximum distance that quilting should be place. To me 1/2" is quite close....making the quilt pretty flat.

What's the bag say about quilting distance?

Were ALL the fabrics washed? If some are and some are not, they'll shrink up differently.

Good Luck! I hope it works in the end. Remember the quilt will be loved!
Nan