My girlfriend and I (newbies) have a large amount of left-over batting.
Is it advisable to sew the pieces together or would this ruin a quilt?
Opinions would be appreciated. Thx

Butt the pieces up to each other and zig zag them together...they should lay flat this way... I believe that the quilting would hold it together... I don't know how well this would work on poly battings, though.

I do just like Amma said and butt the two ends togther and then do a WIDE zig zag to hold them togehter. I have never had a problem doing it this way but, I have only ever done this with Warm and Natural so....

I also use cut off pieces for things like table runners and decorative stuff!

It works with Poly batting to, 'cos I've done it. I used to do it all the time with the strips left over after quilting. I couldn't bring myself to throw them all away, so they got sewn together. I don't use a wide zig zag, I have one that looks like a zig zag on the diagram, but uses three or four stitches on each zig or zag. Does that make sense?

Makes perfect sense. My machine calls that a "3 step elastic zig zag" and says it's for overcasting edges and sewing on elastic but it makes sense for joining edges too and I'll have to try it. I have done this with a wide zig zag but Lacelady's method sounds like it would be even less likely to pull apart. I always felt that once it was quilted it wasn't going to move around much and come apart.

I use leftover batting for my wall hangings. Just butt it together and it works great.

I love this board!!! Sometimes questions get answered before you even ask them. hehehe I have wondered the same thing...if pieces can be joined. And my machine also has the swing stitch....mine takes 4 to each side, so I shall try that.

I piece batting all the time because I buy it on a 44" wide bolt and have to piece together at least 2 pieces to make a quilt. I started out sewing the pieces together, but I saw a post from someone here on the QB about using fusible interfacing to piece them together and have been using that ever since. I really like it a lot better because it's faster to me and I always seemed to have trouble sewing the two pieces together with a zigzag because the right side would always creep forward more than the left side when sewing. When using the fusible interfacing, I just cut off a strip about 1.5" wide and iron it across the seam. I only need it on one side just to hold the pieces together until I quilt it.

that's a great tip Eddie. Thanks for sharing! Sounds more time saving too.

Interesting. I was cutting hundreds of 5.75" squares and 2.75" x 5.75" rectangles from leftover batting for ragged flannels today...never thought to sew pieces together. I buy it 90"+ in width though--and my quilter uses what she has--wider W+N--when she has my tops.

i think the only important thing is that the batting is the same weight and content, so it sews and washes evenly. you wouldn't want high-loft attached to low-loft or poly to cotton. (i guess you could plan it so that certain spots in the finished quilt could be much poofier than the rest of it) :roll:

I really appreciate all the practical advice.

Thanks so much everyone.

I think I'm going to like it here.....

In my class I'm taking now, they have taught us to butt it together and zig zag stitch it together.

I have sewn leftover pieces of batting together using a needle and thread, double your thread and zig zag the pieces together by hand. Stitches don't have to be too close, your quilting will hold everything in place. May in Jersey

Hi, In my lessons here in UK we were taught to stagger the join by separating the two layers of the batting and cutting back the middle layers of each bit by about 6", and then laying them together so there is no noticeable join in the filling, which works well for me, it also means that you don't need to stitch the pieces together so firmly.

I just sewed batting together for the first time today. AWESOME. I learned that from this board. I was always too chicken to try. Thanks everyone for all the great instructions on how to do it. :D :D :D :D