Frankenbatting

According to AI, it’s a quilting technique where small pieces of batting are sewn together to make a larger piece for a quilt top. This method uses batting scraps, saving money and reducing waste.

I use a walking foot to zigzag the pieces together and try to sew them right after attaching the binding to a quilt. I was a few quilts behind, and now that I’m used to piecing them as I go, it was bothering me so I spent this morning putting the pieces I had together.

A quilting friend asked me how I determine the size to make since she stores her pieces in a bin and then puts them together when she’s ready to quilt a top.

I typically create kid-sized quilts around 42″ x 54″, which is equates to twelve 12″ blocks with a 3″ border, but it varies by pattern. I decided on a target size of 46″ x 58″ for my frankenbatts, and it’s worked well for the past year. It’s easy to add a strip or cut some off when necessary.

When I trim after quilting a top, I also cut any leftover batting that’s at least 3″ wide into 46″ lengths.

The pieces that are less the 46″ get sewn together until I have a piece 46″wide and then it gets added to the frankenbatt in progress.

Very little gets wasted and after today’s stitching, I only have this one little piece leftover.

Before I store a frankenbatt, I always label it with the current measurements so I can easily check if it’s big enough for my next little top without measuring each time. The new shelf under the frame is going to be a much handier place to keep it than the end of the long arm table was.

There are many ways to do things, but what works for me is focusing on one frankenbatt at a time. If it’s slightly too small, I can quickly cut a piece from the bolt to make it the right size.

I’d rather spend 5 minutes sewing pieces together than half a day trying to fit them like a jigsaw puzzle. I also like the fact that the batting scraps get used up quickly and not taking up valuable real estate in my sewing room.

A friend from my Stashbuster group shared this video with me today for joining batting on a long arm. It’s interesting! I enjoy learning new techniques, but I don’t think this method would fit my routine.