Friday, August 20, 2010

Batting and stitching

I have ventured into big stitches using Perle 8 thread once before about a year ago.  Not very successfully.  However, I thought this modern quilt deserved that type of embellishment.

I'm not usually very patient and have never really been cautious with my projects.  This time though, I really want to finish the project in one go.  So I felt it was important to get the right batting and needle.
After trying 4 different battings using fat quarters as samples I made a decision to go with a smooth polyester that has a low loft.

The others that I tried after discussion with quilting buddies were:
a polyester with scrim that is often used with machine quilting

Still not happy so I tried wool batting with only a tiny amount of polyester that a veteran swore by.  This one didn't "needle like butter".  Even better, it was like "sewing air".  Now that appealed to me!

Sure, it did feel easy to sew, probably just like sewing air, but... I didn't like the loft.  Too high.  I like flat.  So it was on to my final sample.  The last one I tried was a woollen batting from Hobbs.  In the end I went for the first photo, the polyester.

Next blog I'll show you my big stitches.

1 comment:

Una said...

Hey! I would be most interested to see how you liked the polyester. Your stitches are incredible. I love your header quilt, and hope you would write a little about it:) Best wishes, Una