Has anyone heard of using newspaper as batting in a quilt? I was talking to a young woman Walmart associate today who wanted to know if she could help me locate what I was looking for in the magazine department. I was looking for a quilting magazine to browse through while waiting for my DH. She started telling me about three quilts her deceased grandmother had quilted and she had inherited. She was looking for someone to restore them. She proceeded to explain that newspaper had been used for batting. I thought that was a rather odd choice because how would you ever be able to clean them. Just wondering if anyone had heard of that practice.

I know they used to use newspaper for quilting templates, but I've never heard of them using it for batting.

Check out this site.

www.hightimbertimes.com/.../colorful-history-quilters-gather-document-fabric-history

An older lady once told me that they sewed on newspaper like some people sew on muslin for scrap quilts. Some people left the newspapers in when finishing the quilt. I always wondered what would happen when you washed the quilt.

I have several antique blocks sewn onto newspaper. My grandmother used newspaper as a foundation like we muslin but she always tore it out before layering and quilting.

Maybe they couldn't afford any more fabric, but needed warmth and were able to delay washing them till they could afford something else.
I've heard of newspapers being used as insulation under linoleum where the floor boards were letting in wind. This was way back then in the hills, before dragons or cell phones walked the earth.

Back in the day big items didn't get washed as often as we wash things today. The quilts might have been hung out on a clothesline to 'air'.

However, it is more likely that the newspaper was used for piecing, as others have said.

Yes!!! My father-in-law told me about quilts his mother made. They called it "filling" because it filled the quilt (batting is a relatively new term....since we buy and use batting) for warmth. They used anything available including newspaper, feathers, horsehair, straw and even ground corn cobs. They really didn't wash the quilts but would shake them out and hang them on a clothesline in the sun freshen them.

My FIL was born in 1906 and his mother in the 1800's. He would tell stories about he and his brothers having to lay very still because there wasn't always enough quilting to keep the filling in place...it would shift to one spot and they would wake up cold!!!

Thank you for allowing me to ramble and recall fond memories of my beloved father-in-law.

When I was a little girl I remember having a feather pillow to sleep with...every so often one of the feathers would poke me in the face....

Thank you for all of your replys. I love to hear history about what was done in the past as far as households go. I had totally forgotten about hanging things in the sun and fresh air to freshen things. I have done it myself. Usually after washing them. The young woman seemed to really value her GM's quilts because they had been made out of the fabrics from all of the girls dresses. She displays them, but won't let anyone use them.