Piecing Flannel for the Lunch Meat
 

I’ve mentioned before in a previous thread that I was going to start using flannel instead of batting when making my quilt sandwiches. It’s worked out very, very well. Yes, the quilt is slightly heavier but I’ll give up the little extra weight for the softness because flannel requires less “quilting” than batting does. And I like the extra flexibility of not being bound by having to quilt every 3-4” or so. (Note: I’m using flannel instead of batting, not backing.)

Anyway, now I have flannel fabric that I need to piece; I’m not talking about piecing 8” strips together but there’s going to be some piecing required. What’s the best way of doing that? Do I zig-zag the pieces together or use a seam?

If you have a machine that does a wide multi-stitch zig-zag, I would barely overlap the pieces by about 1/16 of an inch and sew them together.

While piecing together batting can be done with no evidence of it in the completed quilt, I doubt that can be done with flannel without some feeling of the seam no matter how you do it. Batting has loft to completely hide the seaming once in a quilt as traditionally when batting is pieced together it is butted end to end with no overlap and basted together or using a large zig zag stitch. Any bulk created by doing this is hidden in the batting's loft and further camouflaged by quilting.

As flannel has no loft to it there is nothing there to absorb the extra bulk produced by a seam. I would think with flannel as your batting you would definitely feel the lumps made by seams in quilts you have already done this way. Especially where there is a lot of bulk coming together like in a pinwheel block. If you want to go ahead and try, I would recommend a larger seam allowance, perhaps the standard 5/8" used in clothing assembly and then press all seams open. This helps make the bulk of the seams less obvious. But I am fairly confident you will feel the lumps of multiple seams if the seamed flannel is used as batting. Especially many small pieces all pieced together. If you will only have like 4 seams in the whole thing then it probably won't be noticed any more than the seam bulk you already have in a pieced top.

Edited to add, I would love to see a closeup picture of any of your flannel batted quilts. I am curious as to how the quilting shows on one of these and how they hold up to washing and don't become totally wrinkled.

My Mom used to make lap quilts using sheets for the "batting" - they were tied.

I was also thinking of using fusible tape to hold the pieces together.

I'd use a very light weight seam tape, or maybe strips of tulle or other netting. butt the ends of the flannel together and then sew the tape down, along the sides of the join.

Funny you should post this, I was *just* experimenting with this issue this weekend. I don't want to make a heavy quilt for someone in AZ, so I thought flannel would be the thing. I too, have to piece them together, and I found that even with a pressed open seam I'm feeling the bulk of the seam. I wonder if the suggestion of a fusible seam tape would be workable...it also happens the quilt has a good deal of white in it, hoping it won't show. Ack!

FelineF ... I have used flannel for a few quilts and runners. When I do, I hot wash/dry it several times to get the shrinking dealt with. The quilting shows fine, but with so little loft, there is not much "poof". The quilts have a nice hand to them, almost soft and snuggly when wrapped around oneself. For washing, just into the washer/dryer and it's good to go. Surprisingly they do not seem to get wrinkly, and almost look as though they have been pressed ... but not! :)




Libits .... The best thing to do would be to give it all a try and see what you think. Maybe try something smaller than a full-on quilt, as that way, if you are not happy with the results, then you haven't had a big loss.

About joining flannel for batting .... like already said, I too would be very hesitant to use seams, as the bulk would create bumps in the finished quilt. Perhaps laying two pieces side-by-side with no overlap and then wide zig-zag to join them together, may work?

Quilting ... Mine are all loosely quilted, but still probably 4-6". Any larger, I would think could potentially allow for shifting of the layers to happen. Taking that a bit further, I would think that might be where a wrinkly mess may result.

It is possible to purchase extra wide flannel. I think 110", I believe it's around $15/16-ish???