Happy pre-weekend friends!  I hope you all have some fun things on your weekend calendar.  Rather than my usual 5 Things Friday post I thought I would share a quick little tutorial today instead.  If you’re not a quilter you may not find this as exciting but it’s still worth checking out.  I’ll be back next time with another “normal” 5 Things Friday post.

What you’ll need:

Batting Scraps (as large as possible to make it as easy as you can)

Ironing Board

Iron

Applique Pressing Sheet

Interfacing Scraps

If you’re anything like me you have TONS of cotton batting scraps leftover and just lying around.  I buy my cotton batting by the large roll so it’s wider than I need at times and I find myself with some large leftover pieces.  Sometimes that’s a good thing and sometimes not so much.  When my scraps get out of control I go on a big purge and try to use up as many of them as possible.  You might be thinking that’s all good but can I use them for other quilts too, not just small craft projects and mini quilts for the wall?  You absolutely can!!  Let me show you how…

The first thing I do is grab the largest pieces available that will accommodate the quilt I am making.  In this case I was making a picnic quilt for a client that finished at 66″ x 66″.  I had two long leftover pieces about 90″ in length and roughly 40″ in width each.  One was a bit smaller than that but you get the idea.  I laid them out on the floor to straighten the top edge as much as possible and cut them down to about 70″ in length.

Next I line up the two manufacturer’s straight edges (not the side that I cut off my last project) so they are butting right up next to each other.  I like to make sure everything will work out nicely before I bring it all to my ironing board.

Next I bring the two pieces to my ironing board and line them up carefully.  This is why I use the straight manufacturer’s edge if possible.  You can definitely just cut your scraps with your rotary cutter and ruler to make those straight edges as well.  I just try to go for the least amount of work possible 🙂

Now grab your interfacing scraps.  Because I make so many memory quilts I also buy my lightweight interfacing by the bolt.

My favorite and go to is Therm O Web brand HeatnBond Lightweight Fusible

It’s super lightweight and easy to use.  I back most of the clothing my clients send with with it and I love it.

Again I try to find larger pieces if possible.  Call me efficient or call me lazy, either way I just try to make it as fast and easy as I can.

Now go ahead and grab your applique pressing sheet.  I have  the Bear Thread Designs “The Applique Pressing Sheet” and it is a total game changer for this project.  You can find it at Fat Quarter Shop

Lay your interfacing scraps down along the edges where the two batting pieces meet together.  You can trim them down if you’d like.  I like to leave mine 2-3″ wide and as long as possible.  I also overlap by a couple of inches on the ends.  If you look closely at the photo above you can see what I mean.  Then lay your applique pressing sheet on top of the batting and interfacing and slowly start pressing it with your iron.  I use high heat no steam with my iron and don’t even put water in it anymore (one too many issues which is another story for another day).  Slowly press along your pressing sheet being careful to keep your iron only in the area covered by the sheet.  This is where the pressing sheet became the perfect addition to this project.  It keeps your iron nice and neat and clean.  Any residue from the interfacing or batting will be on the back side of the pressing sheet and not your iron’s face plate.  You can flip the pressing sheet over and any gunk will literally wipe right off.  I told you it was a game changer 🙂

In the photo above you can see my pressing sheet laying on top of the batting and interfacing.  Don’t mind my weird old lady hands 🙂

Here you can see the fused section on the left and the ready to go section on the right.

Just keep going in the same manner until you have fused the entire “seam” together along the edges.

Then flip the batting over and do the exact same thing on the other side.

Then VOILA you have a nice large piece of batting to use with your next quilt.

I know some people who prefer to cut the edges of the batting in a wavy shape.  They feel like it blends in better that way.  Personally I have tried that method as well as this one and I can tell absolutely no difference in the finished quilt after quilting, binding and even washing.  So I’m sticking with my lazy, I mean easy, way 🙂

Other people like to zig zag stitch the edges together on their sewing machine.  You can absolutely go that route as well.  I have found that method seems to be more noticeable in the finished quilt.  That’s just my own experience so if it’s your go to then definitely do what works for you.

You can also use fusible batting “tape” which is cut and prepared perfectly for you.  My favorite is Marti Mitchell’s brand that you can find at Fat Quarter Shop.

You can use this method and piece multiple sizes and dimensions together as well.  I have on occasion fused several smaller pieces of batting together in a patchwork of sorts and never had a single issue.  Just make sure all of your seams are fused really well and as flat as possible.

Let me know if you have any questions or other ideas.  I’d love to hear if you’ve tried this method or something similar and what you think.

Go enjoy that last bits of summer and I’ll see you soon.

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