has anyone tried using newspaper as batting?
 

I just got this link from Bellaonline for quilting, and it sounds interesting. Has anyone done it yet? I want to try it but don't want to make one and then have it turn out horrible and waste fabric. The link is:

http://www.crafttestdummies.com/craf...recycle-craft/

This is an old technique -- especially with the crazy patch block. Many old paper pieced quilts used newspaper and left the newspaper in the quilt.

I would make a small (one block) quilt, wash it a lot to see if you like the feel and see if there are problems.

I have used unprinted newspaper for paper piecing, but I take all of mine out.

I might try this on a very small doll quilt just to test it....but I just cannot see using newspaper or any kind of paper and washing it...

I think it was used a lot with crazy quilts and utility quilts using heavier fabrics. They didn't really need any batting with the weight of the materials they were using and all the stitchery kept the paper from shifting until it disolved away years later

Today's ink has a lot of acid in it and it may damage your fabric. I would test it first.

the first question is Why?... what's the point of going thru the trouble and expense of making a quilt top (an exacting and costly hobby), and then putting something inside it that will dissolve in water and leave an inky mess behind? go get a newspaper and put it in your kitchen sink and soak it, scrubbing and 'washing' it.... see if it looks like that belongs inside a quilt? And then if you get that far, look at the water left behind...do you want that in your quilt?

what may have been used in the "olden days" out of necessity and the large amount of different products used today is different. To my knowledge paper was not commonly used as batting in more ancient quilting times. In all my years of being around antique quilts I have never found newspaper to be used as batting.
So don't try it unless you don't intend to ever wash the piece.

Wouldn't dare try this. News print rubs off on anything.

What an awful mess this would be!

I agree, why would you use newspaper when batting isn't the most expensive part of your quilt. I cringe when I read that someone is using this for donation quilts. What a waste of time and money. If you don't want to use batting, why not use flannel or just a sheet? It will just disappear after one washing. Don't do it.
Sue

I have heard of using newspapers as a "stabilizer" but the site you referred us to, says to not take the paper off, that it would act as a batting. My personal opinion is, that it's only 1 sheet of newspaper, so I don't know how that can break down with washing and be considered "batting". My other concern would be the ink, if you read a large sectioned newspaper, after reading, take a look at your hands, they'll be filthy from the ink. I might use newspaper as a stabilizer, but I would definitely remove the paper before I sandwich the quilt.

Back "in the day" paper had a lot of cotton in it, now it has none. I use newspaper as the bottom layer of my weed block and the quality of paper has gotten worse and worse. I used to be able to use two sheets of newsprint now I use at least a section .... and it still rips and tears once wet. I would think it would be close to illegal to use newsprint as it is highly flammable.

Paper Mache, anyone? :)

If you really want to try this, I would suggest using paper that hasn't been printed. If you go to a place with the big presses that print on this size paper, they will usually give you a roll end that has yards and yards of paper on it. The person writing the article claims that you won't have any problems with the ink showing through, but I would still rather not have it inside the quilt. Still, I agree with the other comments... why??? I'd rather use batting, an old sheet, or almost anything rather than paper. Of course they used to use corn cobs for t.p. - but I'm not going to try that either! LOL

I don't think I'll try this.

It's one thing to know that this was used during the depression-people did what they had to do to get by. but to suggest using this technique now? I don't think so. It really bothers me that it was suggested using this for donation quilts-the people/kids recieving me in this situation would need sturdy, not flimsy.

I have though, used pages from phone books as a foundation for scrap quilt blocks. I tear the paper away after sewing the block.

Our guild made these a few years ago but we took the paper out and used batting. I bought a cute small quilt in China and it still has paper in it and sounds really crinkly. Now days we have no reason to use newspaper as batting.

the whole donor thing just astounds me .... would you do this to your family? and i assume that people who make donor quilts are contributing to the 'family of man'... if you can't afford to make a quality product, then make fewer, put the word out, people will help with batting or fabric...we all do this in our groups.. many of the people still working full time buy batting for the rest of us who have the time but not the money.... there is no reason to put below standard supplies in the quilts we send out to those of us in need.

FYI. My grandmothers' family used straw filled ticks to sleep on and to cover up with. ugh. That was all they had. No money and lots of kids. Not much heat and none at night.

I agree. I think some people have a terrible attitude about donation quilts - the one that says, "it's okay if we make it out of junk - it's a "charity" quilt." That's the kind of stuff that gives charity a bad name. :(

I'm not talking about using low-COST materials, I'm talking about using low-QUALITY materials


Newsprint is highly acid and full of lignin, which both break down every organic thing they touch - including fabric. They cause yellowing, they react with light and they fall apart in laundering.

Look how careful paper and canvas artists are to ensure that their materials are acid and lignin free - if someone goes to that trouble to make a greeting card, isn't your quilt worth the same consideration?

This is one of the silliest things I've seen on the internet and I hope nobody actually puts this into practice.

wrong...they have been using vegetable dye since the 1980's!

I am not going to try this, I just wondered if anyone has? My grandma made quilts and she lived thru the depression and never mentioned using newsprint, nor did I ever see any of her quilts with newsprint.

Newspaper filler and the dryer? As others have pointed out, the quality of newspaper has changed through the years. My great-grandmother washed quilts infrequently and, when she did, they hung on the clothesline to dry. Times have changed and so have our practices ..... thankfully.

I don't think I would try it. There are too many other things to try.

Doesn't sound safe to me. I wouldn't do it.

News print is so dirty I would not care to use.

I don't know about any one else's kids but mine put everything he could get his hands on in his mouth including his quilts. I don't think I'd want anything filled with a dirty flammable substance anywhere near my family. We use newspaper to get our woodstove's fire started.

to me it sounds cheap and ridiculous. i particularly find it offensive that anyone would construct a charity quilt this way. what kind of charity is that? to give trash to someone in need? that's not charity, that's an insult. people who are down deserve and need something nice to uplift them and raise their self-esteem, not something that says they too are trash. for shame to those who do dis-honor to charity folks. and who would waste their time and efforts quilting paper to fabric? if that's all you have, i understand. but if you have better, use the good stuff.

I read our local newspaper online rather than have it printed and sent to the house. It would be pretty expensive for me to keep replacing my computer---hard to sew through and lumpy too. lol

since i am extreemly allergic to newspaper (actually the drier for the ink, due to high speed presses ) having it in a quilt would probably kill me......according to allergist i am not a rare case, just many have not isolated what it is that is causing them to have trouble breathing

so short answer is no i would not use newspaper in a quilt for anyone !!!!!!!!!!

Only partly right: Since 2004, 95% of American newspaper ink is now soy based, as opposed to petroleum based. It is not considered to be 100% biodegradable, however, because it is still mixed with additives, resins, pigments, and waxes. There are still some vinegar based inks, and those are high in acid, obviously.

I had never thought of the reason, but always sneeze while reading a newspaper. It seems like people read something somewhere and pass it on without further researching just so they have something to print, to fill a column, I find that especially true online, that is not true journalism.

Also, the paper itself is very acid, think about it - would you wrap up one of your quilts in newspaper? It will get brown and brittle over time (the paper) and where it touches the fabric it may stain the fabric.

Newspaper used to be used for piecing, sometimes left in the pattern. But when a quilt is washed the paper would dissolve, leaving wads of paper in the quilt.

I'm with all those who aren't for using newspaper, for all their valid reasons and probably more

I can see how this would work. I used to use shredded paper of all kinds to make "new" sheets of paper for letters and crafting, and it always came out kind of like a thin batting. I never made the connection before, but I bet she's right about how it would work in a quilt.

In the " old days" newspapers were also called "rags" because they were some kind of material rather than just paper. That is probably why quilts with newspapers used for batting lasted longer, and of course they didn't wash them as often.

My Mother made quilts like this, mostly from recycled wool which doesn't need batting but the paper was used for stability.
I believe Alex Alexander had this as a feature on one of her quilting shows, but I do not remember that newspaper was used for batting, only for a stable base. The patches could be very large pieces and they were sewn up into blocks the size of the newspaper. As I recall this was popular during the war and fabric was not always available. Fabrics were used in larger pieces and were quickly pieced and often given for charitry