I've gone Completely Batty!: Todays activites

Friday, November 13, 2009

Todays activites

Today I spent the morning cutting squares of muslin for the samples and 2" strips for bindings, I wound 20 bobbins and plan to mark the 3/4" grid on the tops while I watch TV tonight. Hope to make some more serious headway tomorrow morning.

6 comments:

Crispy said...: Debra, do you have any battings you have already tested?

Crispy; November 13, 2009 at 4:31 PM
Linda said...: Debra, I am enjoying following your batting journey. I look forward to seeing your recommendations :)
Linda; November 13, 2009 at 5:07 PM
SandyQuilts said...: Oh boy oh boy I can't wait for all your reviews. Thanks to Chris for sending us to your blog. I've added you to my google.com/reader so I never miss a post. thanks.; November 14, 2009 at 8:49 AM
Cindy said...: Came over via Crispy's blog and will continue to hop back.; November 14, 2009 at 9:57 AM
Anonymous said...: What a great idea you have! We look forward to following you on this exploration...I have sent your blog site to the members of my guild too!
Thanks so much for sharing.; November 14, 2009 at 10:19 AM
Winona said...: Debra, I love this idea. So many times I have stood in JoAnn's (like yesterday), just wondering which batting to get, but afraid to try something new. What if it doesn't work out? I am going to become a follower to follow your adventures. Thank you for doing this. I came over from Crispy's blog. Winona; November 14, 2009 at 10:52 AM

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If you have always wanted to know more about the different kinds of battings available and how those differences will ultimately affect your finished quilt you have come to the right place…
Welcome! Come on in and sit a spell, visit with me as I attempt to discover all that there is to know on the subject. Please write me with your questions and join up to follow this blog. We are bound to learn along the way. A good place to begin is with the terminology, there you will find batting terms you may be familiar with and some you may not that will help you understand the nature of batting. It’s pretty important stuff after all it’s the “meat” in the middle of these elaborate quilt sandwiches we make.

How I prepared the batting samples

Each batting was cut into two 12” squares for the quilting samples; they were layered and quilted by machine in ¾” grid between two squares of bleached muslin. One sample square from each brand of batting then received a single line of hand quilting to test for ease of hand needling. These quilted squares were then rotary cut to 9 ½” squares and bound. (Note: There are a few brands of samples that are cut to 8 1/2” because the what I received from the manufacturer were pre-cut 10”squares) One of these bound samples was then hand washed in hot water (as hot as my water heater would allow, which turned out to be 127.4 ˚F) with powdered detergent and dried in a hot electric dryer. Each brand tested will include an unquilted sample of each batting so you can examine each brand for hand, neps, scrim, bonding seed waste debris, loft and color. Every sample of batting, and quilted samples, washed and unwashed, were then labeled as such.
All muslin used in the samples is 100% cotton and was pre-washed in hot water and dried in the dryer and ironed smooth using a steam generator iron. The thread used for machine quilting is mercerized 100% cotton. The thread used for hand quilting is glazed 100% cotton.

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Friday, November 13, 2009

Todays activites

6 comments: