Picnic Quilts Question
 

I am thinking about making a picnic quilt for my daughters. I read one suggestion to use a flannel backed vinyl tablecloth as the backing to make it more waterproof against damp ground. This sounds like a good idea, but it seems to me that just the top and tablecloth would be pretty thin by themselves, so I would like to add batting, probably polyester to handle wear and tear. I was just wondering if any of you have used a vinyl tablecloth as a backing on a quilt? and if you used batting too? Did you like the result? thanks for any thoughts!

First thoughts are to make the traditional quilt. Gift a vinyl tablecloth for them to put down first. Many quilts have survived being picnic, beach, etc quilt.

If you quilt the vinyl, it is going to easily tear from the needle holes.

I’ve made many beach/ picnic quilts. I do use polyester batting in them, but I’ve just used regular cotton for backings. So they are totally wash/ dry able. Using a vinyl tablecloth would certainly change the care. I don’t think it would hold up to washing.

picnic quilt
 

I make jean quilts of picnic and dogs in the car. works great.

I personally never thought about putting a vinyl backing on a quilt. I would be afraid it would wear out to quickly with as much as I use a quilt on the ground. Little feet or scooting dupas may weaken the stitching or even tear the vinyl.
I have a quilt that is now close to 30 yrs old, a little worn now, but the only quilt that goes to the beach or picnics or for even babies outdoors. If the ground is moist I will either double it up or put a vinyl checkered table clothe under it. I suppose DH and I are one of the few that still use a traditional picnic basket to go to the beach or for a picnic in the park. We take it to go fishing on the shore or for a picnic or to just go to the beach to read a book or listen to good music and enjoy the sun. I think this quilt would have been long gone with vinyl.

I agree with the others that a vinyl tablecloth would not hold up to washing it often. I am making denim and flannel rag quilts for my grandchildren and hoping that they use them as a picnic quilt. The first one I made I used 2 squares of flannel and then a square of denim. Never again-my sewing machine really bulked at that so I just stuck to 1 square of flannel and 1 square of denim-going much better.

My sister has made several "picnic" quilts for family members … it is a regular quilt gifted with either a flannel backed tablecloth or double knit yardage from her stash to put down under the quilt.

I was thinking of using home dec or canvas (many of the designer fabric lines come in different types of fabric) as the backing for a picnic/beach quilt. For that matter, I believe they sell waterproof/water resistant fabric for outdoor furniture. Maybe that would be a possibility.

Funny story. I once made a picnic quilt out of regular cotton and old jeans on the front and a cheap Harbor Freight tarp on the back. The only 'quilting' I did was a big "x" on the back, and I stitched all around it about an inch away from all the edges.
It was too heavy to put into my large washer, so it just got hosed off and hung on the line to dry.
It eventually became a barn quilt for bottle fed barn babies, and the tarp side lasted much longer than the cotton on the 'front' side.
I think the weave of that tarp helped hold it together. Not sure what ever became of it...

I used a duvet cover that I bought from ebay. Put a batting in it and quilted it up. It makes a great picnic quilt. It's a madras plaid print and it kind of looks pieces without the work.

I have a picnic quilt in progress (several weeks now). The top is poly/cotton (which I inadvertently bought at auction as quilting fabric). I'm using the same type of fabric on the backing (I have lots of it.) I did not want to quilt it heavily, but wanted it to stand up to repeated washings. I bought a polyester blanket to use as the batting. I posted questions here regarding using that and all agreed that it should work and not shift after washing. The other suggestion was to use a mattress pad for the batting, which I am going to do as I have one in the top of the closet that is almost new, but wouldn't stay on the bed.

As for you first question regarding the backing, I think a flannel backed tablecloth would disintegrate in the washer after it was pierced by the needle in quilting, unless of course, your flannel backed tablecloth is a lot better than the ones I have.

My experience with using a quilt on the wet ground is one outdoor concert many years ago. My date brought the quilt and I brought the plastic to put under it (He hadn't thought of it.)

bk

Thanks everyone for your comments. I think using the vinyl tablecloth under the quilt rather than as the quilt backing is a great idea. I will gift one of those along with the quilt.

This landed in my mailbox today. From Hacks and Hometalk. Funny timing.
https://www.hometalk.com/29119202/waterproof-blanket

To Mindless: I loved your story!

I used Nikwax to waterproof fleece used in felted wool mittens that I made. The waterproofing on an old waterproof fleece wore off and I used Nikwax on that too. It worked great. You might try the cotton version Nikwax on it to help keep it dry. I’m sure there’s a version for flannel too if you go with that.