Minky ........HELP!
 

This will be my first quilt back with minky fabric. I'm not even real sure how to ask this question~but, how taut do you pull this fabric before sewing? I am going to try and checkerboard the back with this, but I am scared to death of how it is going to stretch out of shape before I even start!!!!!

Once again, thanks for your help! Seems like I can't do a quilt without asking questions!

Tonya

I can't help you either, but, don't worry about asking questions. these folk are very willing to help you. Wait on. Someone will be on here to help you.

I saw on Jenny Doan's MSQC website where she had a retreat at the company. One of the questions was about the minky fabric and how to sew with it. Lots of questions and lots of answers.

I will be on a regular sewing machine! Thanks tessagin~ I will check out MSQC for the info :)

If you are using a domestic sewing machine, I believe the only hope you have of quilting it is to quilt it upside down with the minky on the top. Otherwise, as you move the quilt, the minky will most likely shift. I sewed some small simple pillowcase with eggcrate foam and it worked to give comfort to a disable person in a wheel chair but it looked like a toddler had sewn it from the shifting of doing a rolled seam!! On a long arm, you are not moving the quilt but instead moving the sewing machine over the quilt so I think doing it that way is possible. There have been post on this subject. Try doing an ADVANCE search and type in Minky and select posts. Good Luck !!

I've done it on my DSM. I used cotton batting & spray basted with 505. I quilted with the Minky on top. It came out great.
Also I use Fray-Check around the edges after cutting to eliminate all the shedding.

I've made several small quilts where I pieced 10" blocks of minky for one side and used cotton on the other side with no batting in the middle. One of the quilts used a beautiful jungle print that I didn't want to cut up. These quilts look great with either side up.

Minky sheds A LOT! You will be sneezing Minky fluff for days. As I cut my blocks of minky, I put safety pins along the two stretchy sides. After I laid them out on the floor, I made sure that each stretchy side (marked with a pin) never matched up with another stretchy side. Worked great.

Regardless of if your quilt is pieced with cotton using minky as a whole piece, or using minky pieced and the cotton as a whole piece, I would suggest that you simply lay them out flat on the floor and safety pin the layers together. Try not to pull the minky taut.

I actually just finished quilting a Cal-king size quilt with Minky for the backing on my domestic sewing machine. I can tell you from first hand experience that spray basting is a must! Also do not pull the minky taught at all. You simply want to get it flat and all the wrinkles smoothed out. I also use machingers, a super slider and a halo. I dont think you need to use all those gadgets, they just help me keep from getting all tense. I do recommend the machingers or any glove with grippy finger tips though to anyone trying to FMQ on a domestic. Oh also - don't try to "wing" the tension either. Do a test run on a scrap sandwich.

I am totally scared of this minky. I think this one will be cotton backed. :) I am just too scared to mess it up. It has already been the quilt from he!!.....

do not 'pull tight' your minky- you want to smooth it- but not stretch it- then baste very, very well. you (can) use spray basting if that is your preference- then baste the edges to hold it well- personally I prefer thread basting (lines of large stitches in a grid) some people like 'pin basting' -- with minky you need to make sure you are using really good, sharp pins-- what ever your basting method- baste very well (at least every 4" in a grid- more is good, less- not so much) smooth- don't stretch-- loosen your top tension just a tad= lengthen your stitch length a little bit on your machine. put together a small practice piece with what ever your top is and a piece of minky on the back- batting if you are using batting (make your practice piece like your quilt-except much smaller) and practice - making adjustments- until you are comfortable with your results and ready to move to your quilt.

I agree - be very, very careful not to pull it taught. I made a baby quilt with a minkee back and sent it out to a pro longarmer. When I sent it to her, it was square. When it came back, it was a rectangle. It was a commission quilt, and I was upset that the minkee had been stretched, but the customer who commissioned the quilt was very happy with it and didn't care, so I let it go.

I have made 2 quilts with minky as the backing, and both came out fine. I used Elmer's glue on both, and quilted on my regular sewing machine. Guess I was too naive to be scared. :)

I've made a lot of quilts with Minky on the back. Every time someone asks for one I groan because I don't like working with it, but the results are always great. Here's what I do. I lay the minky on the ground and measure batting and my quilt top to make sure I have enough of everything. I use Elmer's washable school glue to glue the batting to the minky and then I glue the top to the batting. let it dry for a day. I have a quilt sandwich with cotton, batting and minky to check the tension. I quilt with the minky on the bottom and use Machingers and quilt like I do any other quilt. Try to ensure that the quilt isn't hanging off the sides of the table. The drag can really mess up your FMQing. Good luck and have fun!

Elmer's glue would be perfect. I never thought of that. Thanks.

I have done two quilts backed with minky. The first was a baby size with cotton batting. I just heavily pin basted and stitched in the ditch with my walking foot. I didn't stretch the minky just laid it out and made sure there were no wrinkles. The second quilt was a t-shirt quilt with no batting. I did the birthing method and this quilt was a little more problematic. The t-shirts plus the minky made it very slippery. However once it was turned I used the digital dual feed foot on my machine to stitch in the ditch again and it turned out fine. I did pin along the blocks again to minimize shifting.