SusanSusan33

I'm making my sister a Christmas quilt. She likes things lightweight and we live in Florida. So after reading here I decided in flannel for the batting.

How far apart can I quilt? I was going to do a fmqing with a diagonal swirl/ loop.

Ill try try to post a picture of one I did recently for my grandfather. I think this was about 2 inches apart. She doesn't like e feel of a lot of quilting. She says it would be too stiff.

THanks for for your help!

tessagin

That looks good. I was about to say it depended on the batting! Is it a whole cloth or a specific pattern. That might determine the quilting pattern also.

DogHouseMom

I take it there is no batting, just the flannel as a backing?

If that's the case ... you can quilt it as far apart as your little heart desires! Both the top and the backing (flannel) are woven fabrics so they won't shift, pull and bunch like batting will if it's not quilted densely enough.

AngeliaNR

If the flannel is batting, you won't need to quilt too close together--the weave of the fabric will stabilize it.

Prism99

If there are 3 layers (with flannel as the middle layer), you still need enough quilting to hold the layers together. My biggest concern would probably be how the 3 layers will shrink, as flannel is notorious for sometimes shrinking a ***lot*** more than other cotton fabrics. If you have preshrunk all of the fabric (and preshrunk the flannel at least twice), then that would not be as much of a concern.

It's true that a lot of quilting with regular (50/3) cotton thread will stiffen up a quilt. However, if you use a much finer cotton thread (such as Aurifil 50wt 2-ply) or a think polyester thread (such as Superior's Bottom Line), even close quilting will not make the quilt stiff.

I like the amount of quilting you have in the photo. If you do the same amount for this quilt and use one of the finer threads I mentioned (or similar), the quilt will still be nice and soft when you are finished.

SusanSusan33

Sorry- I should have clarified. It's three layers. Im using flannel as batting. The quilt top is pieced and the backing is 100% cotton. Non flannel.

I did pre wash the flannel because I read that it could shrink a lot. I didn't pre wash the other fabrics.

ManiacQuilter2

I think that you stitching as shown in the picture will work. You just don't want that flannel to be able to shift around too much or it will bunch up.

Prism99

You should be fine. I wouldn't quilt farther apart than 4" (if you want to quilt further apart than in your photo) just to keep all the layers together without too much stress on the quilting lines.

SusanSusan33

Thanks everyone!! I'm going to try to start the quilting this weekend. Darn liitle things like work and childrens football/ cheerleading practices seem to get in the way. LOL!

jeanharville

Susan, I think the quilting you have pictured is a nice design and spacing looks good to me. But I'm no expert. Also, I admire anyone who can work outside the home, raise kids and cart them everywhere and still find time to quilt. You're a winner.