I am sew excited. I am piecing a 4 block backing for my sons quilt and it is fleece. Well I did not follow directions and starch it first but it is working.
I did have some trouble cutting the pieces and sewn 8 strips together and is went smoothly no stretching and they have no ripples. So Yeah!!!
I am excited about two things.. One my sewing machine allowed me to use an oversize spool of thread and it still self threaded the needle… I will never go back to one that doesn’t.
The other thing was I had concerns that quilting on the fleece would make it rough. I do not plan on quilting closely but was concerned. Well while piecing the first strips together I complete about 10 inches and stopped to make sure it was not stretching and I could not see the thread… It created a ditch but I could not see the thread with out folding the ditch open… It looks like the fluff of the fleece covered the thread.
Sew Yeahhhhh I will not need to worry about what color thread I use in the bobbin……

Now for my question. The thread I used is Coats Machine quilting & Crafts Mercerized Cotton. I got it because it was much cheaper then the normal large spools. Is this thread good for piecing as well as the actual quilting? And is it ok for the bobbin?

Thanks Guys. I am sooo excited about this one. The design for the back and front is attached. I will post photos when I'm done…

Happy Quilting,
G

I can't answer your question about the thread, but I can say that I really like your pattern. I will be anxiously waiting to see the pictures you post, as you get further along. :D :D :D :D

Gail,
I've used the C & C in my bobbin and on the machine. I'm not a thread snob, I know a lot of folks only use certain threads. You'll find your favorites with time.

From what I've read in a number Quilting Magazines, C & C quilting and craft thread ranks up there with the others. Don't get me wrong, I use the 'good threads' when I'm doing a special wedding quilt or something but for children's quilts that are going to be washed a lot, or for teens that are going to drag them to the yard..........yeah, I use a lot of C & C. If it doesn't fray when sewing, I use it!

Just my humble opinion,
Sharon

No help with the thread, but I love your pattern.

Great quilt design and I'm really happy things are flowing smoothly for you! I can use C & C on my Singer, but not my Bernina. It has too much lint for the Bernina, but then so do lots of the other "good" threads. You just need to experiment and find what works well for you. Good luck! Post those pics!

Oops, went back and realized that I didn't answer your question. If the thread says "quilting" I would not use it for piecing. It seems to me that it would be thicker than regular thread...and besides..I'd use a thinner thread for piecing (you can get more on a bobbin and it would be cheaper)

I would think any cotton thread is okay...:)Sounds like you are doing great w/o any questions!Love your patterns too....I'm excited just because you are so excited!! LOL

Thanks everyone for your encoragement. The pattern I found some where and tweaked. I enlarged the blocks. The pattern did not put a binding on the quilt but had you sew it inside out and I am going to sandwhich it and bind it. Any way I am almost at that stage. Has anyone used spraybasting on fleece. Maybe I will start a new thread on this one.

Thanks Everyone.

I have a question for you - You said you enlarged the blocks. I have a pattern for snowball blocks that are 4 inches. I was trying to figure out how much bigger to make the corner squares if I enlarged to 5 inches. What size did you make and what size are your corner squares.

I like your idea of doing a pieced back. Sounds crazy, but I hadn't really thought of that. How are you quilting it? Since the front and back are different patterns I'm wondering what you would do.

Rox,
I used and 8.5" block and 3" inch square.

I found this website which gave me the calculations and then I adjusted a sample till I got what I wanted.

http://www.straw.com/quilting/articles/snowball1.html

For the quilting I plan on outlining the baseballs and then quilting the blue squares diagonally. Since the back is fleece I will not need a batting and will not need to quilt vary closely. I am not worried about the quilting for the backing. This quilt will be going around with us and I just want it to look nice on the back to. I asked in another thread about how everyone did their backings and it seems a lot of people like the idea of a pretty backing. Especially, if it might get seen. I have two quilts which I used a single piece of muslin. It is wonderfully soft, just not to pretty. And as some one stated we work so hard on the fronts why not have a nice backing. This is my first try but I already have another one planed.

G

Hey thanks G. That's exactly what I was looking for.