Why do people make quilts with flannel?
#11
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Chula Vista CA
Posts: 7,402
I use flannel because it is warm and soft. When I get the flannel home I wash it in warm water and dry it in a medium dryer. (No one I know uses hot water to wash anymore even for baby clothes.) If the flannel doesn't perform well with my washing then I don't use it in a quilt. But I buy good quality flannel and I have seen my quilts 10 years and older still being used. I make quilts to be used - and if they wear out, so be it. I can make more.
#14
I use flannel backing on 99% of the quilts I make. My family loves the soft and cuddly warmth you get with flannel. The few quilts I made with 100% cotton are seldom used. So far, the quilts with flannel backing have held up well to repeated washing and drying with very little pilling.
We have 4 cats in our home and cat fur and lint is a fact of life here. LOL!! I recently made my DGD a quilt with Kona cotton in red. The red cotton picked up more cat fur than the flannel.
We have 4 cats in our home and cat fur and lint is a fact of life here. LOL!! I recently made my DGD a quilt with Kona cotton in red. The red cotton picked up more cat fur than the flannel.
#16
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 410
I made a quilt with a flannel back for my husband because I knew he'd like the softness and extra warmth. As others have mentioned, the quality of the flannel is important. Mine hasn't pilled yet, but I don't wash it often. Lint has not been a problem either.
It was a little harder to work with, because it's more stretchy, or maybe I didn't smooth it out well when I was making my sandwich. When I was quilting it (stitch in the ditch) it would sometimes fold over when crossing another seam line, and I wouldn't realize this until I was done with the seam and then had to redo it. I learned that I had to hold the quilt a little taut while I sewed.
I prefer regular cotton fabric backing for myself. I don't mind flannel shirts, but for some reason I don't like to have flannel sheets/blankets touching me.
It was a little harder to work with, because it's more stretchy, or maybe I didn't smooth it out well when I was making my sandwich. When I was quilting it (stitch in the ditch) it would sometimes fold over when crossing another seam line, and I wouldn't realize this until I was done with the seam and then had to redo it. I learned that I had to hold the quilt a little taut while I sewed.
I prefer regular cotton fabric backing for myself. I don't mind flannel shirts, but for some reason I don't like to have flannel sheets/blankets touching me.
#17
Power Poster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Northern Michigan
Posts: 12,861
I've used Lots of flannel, for backings, in tops, for appliques, for raggy quilts, flannel is a favorite! I've not had ( pilling) problems - I use good quality, double sided flannels- not single sided, thin, loosely woven. Flannel is a wonderful, warm cozy quilting cotton!
#19
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Heart of Colorado's majestic mountains!
Posts: 6,026
A good quality flannel does not do the things you have mentioned-cheap flannel does. I have used flannel on the back of a couple of quilts. I do prewash it twice in hot water before I incorporate it into a quilt because it does shrink more than regular quilting cotton. I used black on one quilt and did not have dye migration either.
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01-19-2014 11:58 AM