Quilting minky
 

I nearly have the top done on a t-shirt quilt for my daughter -in-law. I plan to use minky on the back and have a couple of questions. This is a throw size and wonder if I should use a light weight batting or leave it out completely? Also, is there anything I should be aware of with quilting on my dsm? Kind of a special quilt as it is made of t-shirts from rodeo benefit/barrel racing while she was dealing with breast cancer. I am so proud of her! A short year later she was back to barrel racing together with her 6 year old daughter.

This was just posted a couple days ago. Should get you started:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...e-t283146.html

Thank you.

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I have used minky on many of my chemo quilts and had very good luck with it. I lay it out very smooth and tape it with duct tape or clip it to the edges of my table. Then smooth out the very lightweight batting (I have done with and without successfully) and then the top. Starting in the middle I pin the top and smooth it out as I pin the rest about every four inches. I've done straight line and swirly stuff and never had a problem. I will say that it is really important to use the real thing as far as minky goes. Right now I am using a throw blanket I bought at Walmart as my backing and will never do this again. It does not slide well under the machine and has been a real struggle. Real minky moves much better.

I quilt minky on the LA all the time with no problems, I prefer to use a lightweight cotton or poly batting with the minky. If I were quilting on a DSM I think I would put batting in it and spray baste.

Tshirt quilts are pretty heavy on their own then adding the bulk of Minky it wil be a pretty ( meaty) quilt. I recommend doing some practicing before working on the real quilt. Put together some practice squares with tshirt fabric ( with stabilizer if you used it) and Minky. - with & without batting so you can try all options out, quilt & see how it goes. You may have to fiddle with tensions, threads & needles-- best to work out those things before working on the real quilt- it's a pain to have to unquilt Minky due to tension problems, skipped stitches, etc.

Thank you for all the good input. Sneed, your quilting is so beautiful! That looks so rich. Ckcowl, I will take your advise and try out the options. At first I didn't plan to use batting, but then living in North Dakota, thought she might like the extra warmth--but don't want it too heavy. Some day hope to have a long arm, but for now I'll just use my dsm. Thanks again. Knew I would get some good advise here.