Question about sandwiching
 

and i dont mean a turkey sandwich! i finished an aunt grace top. id like to use it as a tablecloth. what do i put in the middle. i didnt want to put batting thinking it would be too thick/heavy. i was goin to use a muslin. someone said i still need a little cushioning. another suggested flannel. which i would think i have to prewash and dry because it will shrink alot. then the question is how much more middle should i get because of shrinkage. ive never used flannel before as i cant stand the feel of it. top measures 78 x 82 this includes 3" top and bottom & 3" each side extra. it would be white. and this is a big and, i didnt want to spend alot of money on "middle."

I use insulbrite in all of my table toppers and love it.

The few times I have used flannel I prewashed it and it shrunk about 5%. One thought is to prewash a small square of your flannel, say 12" square and measure it after the wash/dry to determine how much it shrinks. Then you know how much bigger the piece of flannel should be. My second thought is just to make your flannel about 10" bigger (length and width) as that would allow for over a 10% shrinkage and that should be enough.

If you can't stand the hand feel of flannel, why not look into a Quilter's Dream cotton batting in the Request loft. It's very thin and easy to work with.

Jan in VA

I have used flannel and 1 layer of Warm and Natural. Look for a very thin batting.

You could also just use white solid fabric as the lining in case you wanted the quilt to drape over the edges of the table.

I agree. Insulbrite is not cheap unless you can use a coupon. A heavy cotton possibly with an off color print that would complement the top. That way if you wanted you could reverse and use the other side.

If you are not concert about hot dishes on your table why worry about batting? You can buy table clothes anywhere that are single fabric. Just make sure you stitch the top to backing to stablize your seams when washing

I use a thin batting in all of mine. I have several, never think about it going to shrink any. My table cloths do have a crinkle look, and I have never had a glass tip over from the batting. IMHO, I think it protects the table, from any hot serving bowls, and if someone does upset a glass of something or a cup of coffee, you don't get soaked, the batting soaks it up.

My daughter's tablecloth is large, pieced, she didn't want batting in it, I just bought a cotton/ poly blend sheet (for $4) & backed it, did some stitch in the ditch quilting- she loves it & had been using it for 8 years. My mom never wants batting in the runners I make for her, I just back them & quilt. I've also used muslin for ( batting) in many projects that just needed a little more weight, body but not bulk, works great.