Flannel + fleece?

[TXgirlinUK]

Hi!
First time posting, but I have been reading for awhile now, and I am sure y'all will have sage advice!

I am fairly competently with a sewing machine, but a pregnant friend has asked me to do something outside my comfort zone. She's brought me a bundle of flannel fat quarters and a piece of polarfleece. And she'd like a baby quilt!

I am concerned that, with the first wash, the flannel will shrink, but the fleece obviously won't. I wasn't going to use batting. I've never quilted fleece before. Am I asking for trouble here? Should I get her to change her mind on one layer or the other? I could get some cute coordinating yardage to go with the fleece, something I could prewash. Or I could use a thin batting and flannel yardage as the backing? Suggestions appreciated!
Thanks, Michelle

[Bernamom]

Re: Flannel + fleece?

Not an expert here, but maybe if you stitch around the edge of the flannel Fat quarters, you could wash them first with out destroying them. Then they shouldn't shrink after it is quilted.

[Caroline T.]

Re: Flannel + fleece?

You can prewash the flannel fat quarters to pre-shrink them. And if it's a quality flannel it probably won't shrink very much. I would recommend putting the FQs into a mesh laundry bag for washing, and dry them on a low heat. You'll probably need to iron them after the wash/dry, so only iron from the backside and don't use steam (to avoid flattening the plushness of flannel).

Since your friend wants fleece for the backing, I would also recommend not using batting for this quilt. It'll be plenty warm enough for the baby without it, and batting would probably make it to heavy too.

[TXgirlinUK]

Re: Flannel + fleece?

Thanks! I had wondered about stay-stitching. I think I will go ahead and just prewash the flannel and see what happens. I think she chose it more for the cute prints than the quality. I'll let you know how it goes!

[Vonnie]

Re: Flannel + fleece?

Not an expert here, but maybe if you stitch around the edge of the flannel Fat quarters, you could wash them first with out destroying them. Then they shouldn't shrink after it is quilted.

This is what I did with a fat quarter bundle - actually, I serged around the edges. No problem. Took them out of the dryer as soon as it stopped and laid them out flat and did not have to iron them. I'm afraid of distorting the flannel if I ironed it. Turned out great.

I have washed flannel yardage and had huge ravels.

When quilting with fleece, I find it is better to lengthen my stitch length. Otherwise it might bunch up.

And I agree - no batting. Even though I said lengthen the stitch length when quilting, shorten the stitch length when piecing the flannel. If you have a serger it would be a good idea to piece the flannel with the serger. My oldest has a cute flannel baby quilt that my step mother made him. I had to take needle and thread to it after every wash because some of the seams came apart.

[Murphy224]

Re: Flannel + fleece?

I have made a few quilts using fleece as the backing with no batting and they have turned out great. I guess you are going to make a pieced top using the flannel and back it with the fleece? You already have received great advice about how to pre-wash the flannel fat quarters and I would add go ahead and wash the fleece too, It won't shrink but will get rid of any "chemical residue" from the manufacturing process, making it softer as a bonus. You will not need any batting as the flannel and fleece will be warm and snuggly enough. The only tips I can think of is to be careful when layering as the fleece does stretch out a bit. Use lots of pins and and keep your quilting well spaced. I generally use straight line and in the ditch quilting with fleece backing. No tight stippling here! Lengthen your stitch length as well. It will turn out wonderfully.

[TXgirlinUK]

Re: Flannel + fleece?

Yes, I was planning on just piecing squares and straight line quilting. I am already nervous enough about the flannel shrink and the fleece to make things more difficult! I am glad to hear that the fleece works, thanks for that.

Another thought, what should I do about binding? I won't have enough of the matching flannel to make any. The fleece is plenty big enough to bind with the backing, would that work?

[Vonnie]

Re: Flannel + fleece?

Yes, I was planning on just piecing squares and straight line quilting. I am already nervous enough about the flannel shrink and the fleece to make things more difficult! I am glad to hear that the fleece works, thanks for that.

Another thought, what should I do about binding? I won't have enough of the matching flannel to make any. The fleece is plenty big enough to bind with the backing, would that work?

Yes!
I like to trim the fleece backing to 2" all around the top. Then just fold it over the top and tuck in 1" and that will give you a 1" hem.

There are several methods for handling the corners. I like to trim the corners and some like to fold the corner in before folding the sides. This creates a mitered corner.

Remember, it will be quite thick when stitching around but will make it quite sturdy. I have a quilt I made for the kids play room and now those boys are in their 20's and 30's. The edge is not frayed at all whereas a quilt I have with cotton binding that is younger than that one is really frayed.

Ideas for doing the corners:

http://thedistracteddomestic.blogspot.com/2011/11/tutorial-how-to-get-nice-clean-corner.html

http://www.skiptomylou.org/make-your-own-cloth-napkins/

[TXgirlinUK]

Re: Flannel + fleece?

Well, the flannel all prewashed and dried absolutely fine! Whew. It's pressed and waiting to be cut! Will keep you posted on how it goes.

[TXgirlinUK]

Re: Flannel + fleece?

Oh my, the next time I even whisper the word 'flannel', you have my permission to head slap me!!

I pressed and cut all this gorgeously soft flannel in to big 6" squares. It looked so nice all stacked up until I was ready to piece it together!
And then... then it stretched. And moved. And defied the pins. And basically I gave up on the checkerboard of solids and prints pattern I was aiming for. I wound up staggering the rows of squares, because there was no way I was going to get seams lined up in both directions! It's together, and it's adorable, but it's not square! Oh well. Live and learn. In this case, I learned that I will be saying No to Flannel in the future.
Now, I am going to deal with all that lint.

[lourixe]

Re: Flannel + fleece?

Like Vonnie said.
Fleece doesn't fray, so when folding the back towards the front you don't need to refold the edge for a hem. I try to have it cut very straight, and sew it down with a decorative stitch from my machine.
There are different fleece qualities and some stretch more than others. I have FMQed them with very large meanders and had no special issues. Something I don't like is, the cutting mat is really hard to clean after cutting them, as fibers get caught and the mat's surface doesn't "heal" as supposed to.

[Irene221b]

Re: Flannel + fleece?

If you have a walking foot or dual feed foot that may help with sewing the flannel. I had a heck of a time making a flannel HST quilt for hubby until I tried piecing with my walking foot. The walking foot made a huge difference - that and some pins, it worked out great.

[TXgirlinUK]

Re: Flannel + fleece?

IMG_5356.jpgIMG_5357.jpgIMG_5358.jpgUpdate, with pictures!

Ok, here's how it went. I made an executive decision to not mix the flannel and fleece. I backed the pieced flannel top with a flannel backing and used an 80/20 batting.
Taking in to account that this is a) my first pieced project b) no pattern c) first time machine quilting d) very free form, I am totally happy with how it turned out!

[TXgirlinUK]

Re: Flannel + fleece?

I would like to know what I did that caused the wavy edges when it's laid flat. I was going to follow the blocks and do echo quilting, but there was too much space left unquilted, so I just sort of worked across the quilt at right angles, filling in the gaps. I tried to work from the center out as much as possible, and thought I had it pretty squared before I put the binding on.

[TXgirlinUK]

Re: Flannel + fleece?

I am using the fleece as backing for my first JRR top that I just finished putting together. I'll post pictures when I get that done. Thanks for all the help and suggestions!