|
| I finished GS's queen-size quilt last fall, after a 25-year hiatus from quilting. Among the things I (re)learned is that if you can't bend your knee enough to get down and move around on the floor (and don't have any other space large enough), trying to baste a queen-size is both difficult and frustrating. DD wants a new bedspread-size quilt for her California-king so soon I will be looking at an even larger area that will need to be basted... Which has brought my attention to this new-fangled [grin] fusible batting. It comes in cotton-poly blends which all seem to note 5% or more shrinkage (huh?) or all-poly which doesn't note shrinkage; I'll go with the all-poly stuff but there doesn't seem to be much info on it. While I will order a small piece to practice on before doing the king-size, I'm hoping y'all can give me some hints and tips to make using it easier. -remember- no floor-crawling! Thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| Never tried the batting, but am finishing a quilt with spray baste. This one is no larger than 80 inches even with the unfinished edge. I had to do it on multiple tables pushed together on the garage floor since it needs to be done with lots of air circulation. I also didn't want it on the dirty garage floor. Spray baste is very forgiving once you've started. I had a few wrinkles due to the table situation, but you can still move the fabric to repair any problems before stitching. I really love the outcome. No trouble with it gumming up my machine and no pins to remove as I free motion quilted, which really did make it "free" motion. When I got to the edge where I had pinned as they suggested, I remembered just how annoying pins are! Next time I'll try what they said and machine baste the edge. |
|
| I took a quilting class a few years ago and to make it easier for beginners, we used the Hobbs cotton fusible batting. One of the other ladies said she had used a different brand and didn't like the results. She really liked the Hobbs. We were only making a crib size qult. When I made my own quilt...a queensized, I used the Hobbs again and it was more tricky to iron the larger sized fabric, but it quilted up really nice. The batting is thin though, so I did use flannel for the backing so it would be warmer. Was easy to reposition and also re-iron. I guess my only real tip is to lay out the batting on a bed or across a sofa a few days before you are going to use it so it has time to "relax" and has less kinks and crinkles and take your time...you don't have to iron it all at the same time if you want to take breaks. |
|
| Yes,I've used it and appreciate some of its qualities and don't like others. It works well enough on small areas, like a crib quilt. The bonding doesn't hold up well to handling and looses its fusing ability. Not a big issue, because pressing it again with a hot iron will renew it. I was using it on a45X60 crib quilt I did not have on a frame, but a hoop. That necessitated moving the material around in the hoop and the taughtness of the material relaxing as I hand stitched. All of which caused the bonding to fail and I'd have to re-press it. If you don't pick up on this, and the sandwich shifts, you could end up with puckers. The other thing I didn't like is the fusing sometimes 'melts' into globs.......hard lumps in the batting. It washes out, but it can interfere with the needle. That little quilt turned out quite well regardless and even though sometimes sections of bonding let loose, it held the entire pattern well enough, the backing nor the batting re-oriented itself so it had to be pinned or basted. |
|
| I have only used it for a lap size quilt and it was okay, but still had to spread it out to sandwich well. I think it would work better for small projects. beverly |
|
| Thanks for your comments. A spray-baste is what I used on GS's quilt, it held fine during the actual quilting; but phew! it smelled awful during the spraying process even though I did it outdoors (had the cleanest driveway in the neighborhood while DH helped spread the layers). DH got a bad headache even though he stayed upwind -there wasn't enough breeze to move the overspray away from the area. I've used other fusible products without any problem, so I'm hoping the fusible batting is also comparatively scent-free. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Quilting Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.