sprice

Would work for a warm, utility quilt but it would be awfully heavy. I like that a batting makes the quilt warm without making it heavy.

Rose_P

I used a heavy blanket in my first bed size quilt. I'm not sure what I was thinking because we were living in Florida at the time, and it was much too warm for that climate, but then we moved to St. Louis, and it was okay in winter. The problem with using blankets is that there is such a wide range of different types. Some are much stretchier than others. A good, wool blanket might be worth preserving as such because they're hard to find these days. A heavy blanket will be very hard to quilt on a machine because the weight will be hard to manage. Hand quilting would be hard because of the thickness. Unless the blanket is white or light beige it will tend to influence the appearance of the light colors in your patchwork. I did not bind mine but birthed it and then sewed around about 2 inches from the edge. I had quite a lot of trouble with puckers. I didn't know about a walking foot at the time. At that point I think I tried tying it, but soon gave up and just used it as a sort of duvet. I didn't attempt to make another quilt for probably 10 years. My opinion is that if you are giving your time and effort to piecing a top you deserve to finish it in the tried and true conventional way with batting. It's much easier and the result is more likely to be worth your effort.

Sew Freak

I have used an old blanket for the batting on a scrappy quilt and it ended up being one of my favs!(I didn't like it at first) Since it turned out ok, I now look for blankets at garage sales and have found about three that are in really good condition and I will use those in a couple of other (s)crappy quilts I have ready to complete. I will only use those quilts when watching tv or when the grands want to lay on the floor to watch tv. I save and use the nicer quilts made with reg.batting for the bed or to display on the back of the couch. I use them...I'm just more careful about how I use them....not like the (s)crappy quilts which I don't care if they get dragged around or buttered popcorn gets dropped on them or any other food for that matter--they really are too (s)crappy to care about but since I have a lot of scrap material left overs they do just fine for everyday use. Bottom line for me is if I were to give the quilt as a gift I would use batting...not an old blanket. For me and my personal use I'm not too particular unless it is a nice quilt. (some of my (s)crappies are made with pieces of different shapes or I should say no particular shape...and some are definite block patterend quilts just made with leftover material)

patricej

using a blanket as batting does not make a quilt at all "less nice."
if the top is well made and the back is on properly then what's in the middle doesn't matter.

a blanket will make a quilt nice and toasty in cold weather.
you can quilt it by machine as you would any other.
the right size blanket can very well cost a lot less than batting.

you can even hand-quilt through it although it would probably be difficult with a blanket of standard thickness.
i know because i have done it. not tiny stitches, but perfectly presentable.

the only reason to not use a blanket would be if it's old, ratty, smelly, and/or full of holes.

RosaSharon

Once I used flannel for batting because the quilt was going to be used in a warmer climate state.

madamekelly

Years ago before I ever considered making quilts, I used two new sheets, matching yarn, and a cotton blanket to make a comforter for my bed. I wore it out over the years but right until the end my DDs loved it. It was more often used to watch TV on Saturday mornings in mom’s bed. The cotton blanket inside gave it a wonderful drape.

KalamaQuilts

I inherieted several quilts that had been tied with blankets for batt. They wouldn't have been in tatters by the time they got to me if great great had spent more time tieing. I would say no less than 3 finger widths apart rather than one only in each block corner.