Hi Folks! I'm a fairly new quilter who's interested in getting better at free-motion quilting. I have a very basic (i.e. inexpensive) sewing machine, and I've found that I really like quilt-as-you go techniques. I'm currently working on my second quilt-as-you-go project, and I'm using a low loft 80/20 cotton batting. I think I've got it figured out how to do it without sashing between the blocks, but it leaves little room to dovetail the batting. I've read some quilt-as-you-go tutorials that don't dovetail the batting at all, but just butt the two pieces together. Has anybody done this??? I'm concerned it might leave weakness between the blocks, especially after I wash it, and the batting shrinks. On the other hand, the batting is already very thin, and it might not make much difference. Any thoughts? Suggestions??? Thanks!!!

i've been quilting for years (1976) and feel like a real dummy- what the heck is dove tailing the batting?
i have always butted my batts up against each other- works just fine- sometimes i peice whole batts for a quilt- for those i butt the two pieces and zigzag them- but for qayg i just butt them together- never had anything come apart-separate- or anything else bad.

i might not know what dove=tailing is- but i bet its more work.

The sashing is what usually holds the batting in place, as you are stitching on both sides of where the batting pieces meet. ::D:D:D

That's what dovetailing means. Never done it. Too much work for me. LOL
http://www.secretsof.com/content/624

I made one where I butted the batting together, but I made sure that there was a lot of quilting in this area. It's a queen and used on a bed, laundered a couple of times. Seems to be holding up just fine.

When I cut the batting into manageable sized pieces, I put registration marks so I know where to whip stitch them together at. I do not cut the batting in a straight line. It has gradual curves (making the registration marks easier to line up). I do not duplicate those marks either. I would use an "I" on one, "II" on the second and so on. I have been known to cut my batting pieces on the diagonal, so there is no additional stress if the finished quilt is to be folded and stored.

Thanks for asking this question. Was going to try QAYG because I found wrestling with a larger quilt on my domestic machine a bit more of a contest than I wanted to take on now that my arthritis is worse. But dovetailing seems a bit more of a chore than I want. Will definately check out the butting together method.