World Wide Quilting Page
Question of the Week
Question for the week of June 24, 2002:
Our question this week comes N. Webster
What is the maximum space that is desirable between rows of stitching when quilting a quilt, regardless of the pattern? Should different types of batting be quilted closer than others?
Heather Rector :
Read recently on a quilting site that for cotton batting, quilting more than one inch apart will give the batting room to "pull apart" and/or "bunch-up" when washed. I apologize for not knowing which site or page for reference purposes. From what I've seen over the years though, the design and spacing is completely up to you.
Rebecca :
The batting package will tell you, but also consider usage. If it's going to be well-used and therefore washed, it needs to be quilted more closely than one that's hanging on the wall. Speaking of wall hangings, a heavily embellished one would need more quilting than a simple pieced WH.
Sandra from SC :
If you'll look on the bag the batting comes in, it will tell you how much quilting is required for that type of batting. it's different depending on the kind of batting you choose.
Barbara H. :
The maximum required space depends on the batting, and is usually marked somewhere on the package. I prefer Warm & Natural because it can be quilted every 10" or less (no affil, just a happy customer). I have seen some batting that requires quilting every 2" or less.I consider my quilt top, and decide what is the minimum amount of quilting that I want to do on it - you can always do more, but not less. For example, on a simple quilt I may only want to stitch-in-the-ditch around the blocks every 4". So I need a batting that can be quilted at least 4" or more apart. A batting requiring quilting every 2" would totally change the look of my quilt, as well as the amount of work and time involved.
I believe that the maximum desirable space between rows of quilting is what looks right to me for that particular quilt.
Happy Quilting!
World Wide Quilting Page * Question of the Week