How to Join Batting

Hi there! Today we have a fabulous guest post from the talented Carrie from Chopping Block Quilts! Be sure to check out her blog, she has a lot of great projects and even some recipes! :)

You can find Carrie: 

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Today she is going to share with us how to join batting.  I don't know about you, but I have quite the pile of batting scraps that are just sitting in a bin.  I will use some here and there for small projects, but I've never joined my batting to make a bigger piece before! I knew it was possible, I just never knew exactly how to do it.  So I am so glad I came across Carrie's excellent tutorial, I will definitely use this the next time I may need a bigger piece of batting than what I already have! 

 When making larger quilts, I typically use a whole, new piece of batting but am often left with sizeable scraps that (when joined together) are perfect for smaller projects such as baby quilts.

Batting piece too small for pillow sham.

 Typically I only join two pieces of batting, but I have joined up to four pieces using the following method.

 1: Make sure that the pieces of scrap batting you are joining are of the same material and loft. When storing my scraps, I fold the pieces into each other to keep like batting together.

 2: Lay the batting pieces you are thinking of using so that there is overlap between the pieces of 3-4 inches.

Overlap Scraps by 3 or 4 inches

 When I first started quilting, I would stop at this step, baste and quilt. I was never happy as there would be part of the quilt that was thicker due to the double layer.

3: (Secret step) Cut through both layers of overlapped batting in a gentle wave pattern. I typically eyeball it but you can mark if so desired.

Cut through both layers in a wave

 4: Remove the excess pieces of batting from the two halves. You will be left with two pieces of batting that butt up to each other flush in the curves.

Remove excess side pieces 

5: Join the batting pieces using a loose whipstitch. This is just to hold them together temporarily while basting and quilting. You don't want a tight stitch as this will form a ridge on the seam.

Loose whipstitch to hold the two adjoining pieces at the seam

Joined pieces ready for basting

 6: Baste and quilt as normal

Basted and ready for quilting 

7: Enjoy your finished project without all the excess batting bulk. Secretly revel in your thriftiness and no one being the wiser!

Thanks for stopping by!