I'm making a small (very small) wall hanging. It's raw-edged applique with lots of tiny little pieces. (I guess I'll post a picture.) I'm thinking I want to use the top-stitching as quilting, but I want a thin batting. Is there any reason I shouldn't use flannel instead of traditional batting? It won't ever be washed, so shrinkage isn't an issue. I just want to make sure I'm not committing myself to a disaster. It's from a kit a friend asked me to do, and let me tell you, it's been a bear. (No pun intended.)

I've used flannel for batting and love it.

I don't see why not since laundering won't be an issue. Very nice by the way!

I just Toni Whitney..and her patterns...one of my FAVE designers for sure...

this thing is less than 10" finished, so flannel, even if you fused two thin pieces together would be just fine for it...you need it lie very flat for any quilting you do...

be sure to send your pix to Toni..she loves to share them on FB and her site!

Wow I really like the bear. My mother used to use flannel sheets in what she called her summer quilts because she didn't like a heavy quilt in hot weather. They washed ok too.

The bear is awesome. I have some of her patterns too and just love them but haven't started them yet.

I have used flannel a lot. I wash it several times to make it shrink as much as possible. Makes for a soft, cuddly quilt.

Love your bear quilt!

wow ! awsome !

Thanks! I thought it would be okay, and now i'm reassured. Onward!

I would try some samples with a couple of batting choices to get the look you want. The flannel will be very flat and your quilt stitches won't sink in like they would on a thicker batting. I use Quilter's Dream poly on a lot of wall hangings. It's also fairly flat but gives a little more definition to your quilting and it's also very stable so your wall hangings don't sag over time.

good job!! i've used flannel as well

I have used flannel , and also for a wall hanging .. i 've used felt the poly type, has nice structure to it for a wall hanging.

I use flannel as batting on all the baby quilts I've made. It has a nicer "hand" to it than regular batting, very supple.

Love your bear!!!

ditto...my grandmother used old flannel sheets for many of her quilts she made in the 30s & 40s

I meant to tell you what a lovely quilt you made :)

It an awesome wall hanging. I love it. Flannel would be find for batting.

Beautiful work !! :-)

Thanks! I've got it going, and it seems to be fine.

it's fine to use flannel for batting even if you were going to wash it-flannel makes a good batting. for wall hangings often you only need a center layer to help keep seam lines-threads from showing through- even a layer of muslin can be enough at times...just depends if you want to add any (depth) to the project when you quilt it.

I use flannel when I make wearable stuff like quilted coats and it works very well.

I use flannel for my placemats and table runners, works great (I buy al the receiving blankets at the thrift store and use those for the batting)

I use flannel for batting if I'm going to be doing heavy beading. I baste the top to the flannel, do the beading, and then add a back and bind it. So far my heavily beaded pieces have been quite small and I haven't needed to quilt them as the beading held it together well enough. When I made the quilt in the avatar, which is 39" square, the beading was a small part of it, so I used a standard thin poly batting, quilted, and then added the beading last.

very nice !!!!! flannel will be great... but I would suggest washing it first, just to be sure

What a beautiful job...I agree with Quilters Dream Poly. I love it when I am doing wall hanging

Beautiful work. I've used flannel as batting in quilts and it worked very well. Washed it first. Didn't have any problems quilting it.

Locw the bear

I use flannel for backing on embroidery for quilting, so I don't see why you couldn't use it for batting. It's easy to sew thru.

Good idea about buying the blankets at the thrift store. I'll have to run out and look ASAP. Will it pass it on, too.

I used flannel for batting on some small projects and it worked great.

Have used flannel in summer quilts. Where it will be laundered, I wash and dry the flannel first to get the shrinkage out of it. If its not going to be laundered, I wouldn't bother to preshrink.

I used it on a quilt I made for a cancer patient. I washed it twice to take care of any shrinking. The flannel for the batting made the quilt lighterweight for someone who couldn't stand anything heavy.

Wash the flannel first & press it it will make good batting for your bear.

You have done a beautiful job! :thumbup:
When I first starting quilting years ago, I used flannel as batting because I could buy that cheaper than batt. Now I use Warm & White which I purchase on the roll at JoAnn's when it goes on sale. I usually buy 10 yards at a time and it lasts a while.

Thermore is a very, very thin batting that you could use.

Very nice. I don't know why flannel wouldn't work. Let us know what you decide.

I would still wash the flannel to be on the safe side,you never know,sometime in the future if it does get washed and the flannel has not been prewashed,it will be horribe.

What a beautiful bear quilt!!