Welcome to the new followers after my guild presentation via Zoom with the New Mexico Quilters Association last week. It was great to talk about and teach bindings. Our workshop on Saturday had the all loved AH-HA moments!!

Speaking of AH-HAs…I did not realize my podcast for I Love Notions was live. I was interviewed by Carolina Moore for her new podcast series. It was fun to share my start in the quilting world with my Brilliant Bindings tool and my latest Hex-a-ma-jig templates. You can find it HERE!! This is a direct link to my interview!

As my title implies I have been getting batting ready to one of my final new quilts for Quilt Market and Festival. I will share the quilt and title the week of Market…know that it is a fun, fast, simple design that I am thrilled with. The batting part of that is getting this quilt quilted so I can take the cover photo. Yes, a bit of pressure, but I seem to work well with deadlines fast approaching.

My favorite batting is Bamboo by Winline, as I have talked about several times before. I love the softness and wonderful drape. Once the quilt is washed it is so yummy. I had a piece left but it wasn’t the right size. So, I’ve pieced it together as many call this “Franken’ Batting” (as in Frankenstein, teehee….good word with Halloween fast approaching). Sooooo, how do I do this?

I was able to cut the 96″ length of the batting down to the 74″ length I needed and use the excess to add width for the quilt. I overlap the edges and cut a long curvy line through the double layer. I do this instead of trying to put two straight edges together. It makes for a much smoother join and transition! I then zigzag the join. Those steps are shown below in pictures. You can stitch by hand or sewing machine. I much prefer a extra wide zigzag on the machine. I was in a hurry so I did one section by machine and the other long edge with a couple different products on the market. One is Pellon’s Stick-n-Washaway Tape and the other is Heat Press Batting Together. I’ll show those products below the cutting and sewing steps. I have no affiliation, but had them handy to speed up the process.

If you don’t want to zigzag, the products discussed above are shown below.

Pellon’s Stick-n-Washaway Tape. It has a sticky side and the other is not. Just remove the paper backing and stitch right over the cut joined edges. My concern is the washaway part…. Once the batting is between the layers of the quilt top and backing and quilted, everything should stay in place.

Heat Press Batting Together… This is also on a roll and you press it onto the batting join. Be sure to check your iron temperature.

I hope you found some tips or ideas to try if you ever run short on batting and need to piece some together!

#1 – Overlap batting edges by about an inch and cut a gently wavy line through all layers. Remove extra edge bits and sew together.

#2 – Give some batting tape a try. There are several brands on the market. Find what works best for you or use my favorite wide zigzag. I like cotton thread so this keeps the batting all natural, no poly. Plus, I know the edges will stay together with the zigzag stitching!

in quilting,

Debbie