Stiff Quilt - how do I soften it?

by Marion
(Oregon)

The pattern of machine quilting that I chose made my quilt stiff.

How can I fix this?

Reply

My suggestions for softening the quilt are:

1. Wash it, and...
2. Use it

The wear and tear of use should soften it somewhat. But the best advice is to prevent it from happening. Next time chose a batting that works better with the chosen quilting design.

I'm assuming that you've got a lot of dense quilting on your quilt. If that is correct, I recommend that you use a wool batting like Hobbs Heirloom which is a washable, (cool water, little agitation) 100% wool batting.

The advantages of using wool are:

1. It can handle uneven stitching across the top of your quilt.
   
   When I took my very first machine quilting class, I was told to quilt evenly across my quilt so that it would lay flat once it was finished.
   
   To this day when I teach, if my students are using a cotton batting, I recommend the same thing.
   
   The reason is you can't block a cotton batting into a square shape. The fibers just don't have that kind of memory.
   
   On the other hand, a wool batt can be dampened and pulled into a square shape (held with pins). Once it dries, it will hold this shape. (Think of how knitters will block the pieces of a sweater to shape them.)
   
   If you've got uneven quilting across your quilt, just block it out.


2. It's incredibly 'smushy'. It compresses down so much smaller than a cotton batt. That means there's more room for your hands under the arm of your sewing machine. A huge help if you're working on a quilt 'the size of Egypt'!


3. It adds dimension Wool puffs up where there's no quilting, and again, it smushes down to nothing where there's dense stitching. A lot of dimension without the additional work of trapunto. You can't get that effect from cotton.
   
   I've tried a silk batting in one of our patterns (the red quilt above), and though it stayed pliable and has a nice drape, if you're after dimension for your feathers, it isn't as good as wool. I couldn't justify the additional expense.

If there wasn't a lot of dense stitching and you aren't interested in the texture, then move to a lighter weight cotton batting like Quilters Dream in the Select or Request weight. Both will create flat looking quilts (I really like that for my reproduction fabrics).

Readers, what do you say?!

How would you handle a finished quilt that's too stiff for your liking? Please share your thoughts and experiences using the comments link below. Thank you!

Marion, I hope this information has been helpful.

Piecefully,

Julie Baird
Editor

This article was printed from Generations-Quilt-Patterns.com