Cuddly Quilt Tips

it doesn't larn amend than this!

 Someone posted a query on Leah Day's weblog nearly density. Cheri was concerned that her quilt's were equally good strong as well as cardboard-like. She wanted to move able to create something to a greater extent than cuddly. I posted a comment but there's exclusively thus much yous tin tell inward a tiny comment box. So I'm going to expand my comments hither as well as larn into a piffling to a greater extent than depth on how to attain cuddly quilts. 

Materials as well as Methods for cuddly quilts:

1. Use fleece! I'm a flake of a finally infinitesimal person. I don't convey the fourth dimension to pass years of washing to larn a quilt soft as well as supple. When I brand a quilt for someone I unremarkably needed it 'yesterday' non side yesteryear side year. So here's tip #1: if yous desire a cuddly quilt laid out yesteryear choosing soft as well as cuddly materials - like fleece or fifty-fifty minky. You postulate skilful character non pill fleece. This costs a flake to a greater extent than than the inexpensive stuff but it's worth every penny. Good character anti pil fleece washes beautifully. It also shows off your stitching.  Fleece is real economical, because it serves equally backing AND wadding. That's ii jobs for the cost of one. 

a fleece backed quilt on the half-dozen pes Art Quilter frame

Here inward the Great Britain I tin larn lovely fleece from the haberdashery region of Boyes. Another fantastic root is fabric-online they offering a huge pick of 49 colours for £5.95 per meter! Do the math as well as you'll come across this is a much to a greater extent than affordable alternative than the cost of backing cloth as well as wadding/batting combined.

click to come across the quilting as well as notice how the fleece shows upward the quilting pattern

The kickoff fourth dimension I e'er saw fleece used inward a quilt, was at a local quilt exhibition.  A adult woman had made this teddy behaviour themed quilt for her grandson. It had flannel on overstep as well as fleece underneath. It was the softest, cuddliest quilt I'd e'er felt. I was inspired to plough over fleece a elbow grease as well as I've been using fleece for drag-around-the-house-kiddie-quilts e'er since.

Rainbows lite reflecting tri-lobal polyester thread keeps a quilt soft

2. Use polyester thread! The variety of thread yous purpose makes a huge divergence inward the experience of your quilt. Cotton thread, peculiarly densely quilted cotton fiber thread volition plough over your quilt a strong cardboard similar quality. Yes, it volition soften upward over fourth dimension alongside repeated washing, but if yous desire your quilt to start out soft, purpose polyester at the real to the lowest degree inward the bobbin. Even if yous purpose cotton fiber on the top, pairing it alongside a polyester inward the bobbin similar Bottom Line yesteryear Superior Threads volition move on the quilt softer as well as to a greater extent than supple.

My favourite overstep threads for cuddly quilts are trilobal polyesters similar the one-inch-colour-change variegated Rainbows line or the novel Magnifico hit from Superior. These lint-free gorgeous lite reflecting threads are beautiful to hold off at as well as soft to touch. Because they're made for machine quilting they run through my sewing machine similar butter. Bottom Line comes inward lots of colours as well as is available inward pre-wound bobbins or 3,000 yd crosswound cones. I similar to jibe my bobbin thread to the fleece colour. This creates gorgeous texture on the dorsum of my quilts. All these threads are available hither inward the Great Britain from the website.

a paisley whole cloth quilt

3. Loosen up! This concluding tip has to practise alongside method. Think of a quilt equally a combination of quilted lines as well as un-quilted spaces. The quilted lines concord the quilt together as well as the un-quilted spaces plough over yous the fluffiness. Both are necessary as well as good. No thing what materials yous use, if yous quilt equally good many lines yous volition quilt out all the fluffiness. If yous desire a soft as well as cuddly quilt as well as thus purpose a soft as well as flowing describe blueprint for the quilting as well as move out about un-quilted negative space. This volition create a quilt that drapes good as well as is soft as well as fluffy.

Perhaps the style towards over-quilting comes from the methods as well as tools nosotros use. Sitting at the sewing machine to free-motion-quilt little sections at a time, lends itself to dense quilting. Lots of people similar this look. It's groovy for wall hangings, tabular array runners as well as gorgeous abide by winning bed quilts. But non for soft cuddly little quilts. Soft cuddly quilts postulate a looser, less dense quilting style. 

Gypsy,  our truthful cat thinks it's cuddly fifty-fifty on the frame

I intend it is easier to attain a looser quilting agency standing upward at a frame. A machine quilting frame gives yous a much larger region of the quilt to operate on.  Frame quilting allows a free-er to a greater extent than opened upward quilting agency because it's thus much easier to free-motion quilt when the frame is belongings the quilt sandwich dainty as well as steady. It's also much easier to create bigger flowing lines yesteryear using the sewing machine needle similar a pen equally yous glide your sewing machine over the overstep of your quilt. 

The tools nosotros purpose practise form the variety of projects nosotros make. I observe it much easier to create larger to a greater extent than flowing lines standing upward at a machine quilting frame rather than sitting at the sewing machine as well as wrestling alongside my quilt nether the arm. Perhaps this has something to practise alongside my torso tension. I'm up-tight sitting at the machine as well as I'm much to a greater extent than relaxed standing at the frame. Being relaxed translates into a looser to a greater extent than flowing quilting style, which of course of written report creates a softer to a greater extent than cuddly quilt.

If working alongside fleece is a novel consider for yous as well as you'd similar a sample, e-mail me your postal address as well as I'll ship yous a  little machine quilting sample. The samples are machine quilted on a New English linguistic communication Quilter frame alongside tri-lobal polyester threads on overstep as well as Bottom Line inward the bobbin. The quilt sandwich has cotton fiber cloth on overstep as well as anti pil fleece underneath. You'll move able to experience the divergence for yourself.

email: martha@.co.uk