Quilting on Minky

[Mary P.]

Can anyone please share their experience with quilting with Minky. I have a flannel quilt top, and I plan on using Minky for the backing. Some people have told me that I do not need to use batting. If I do not use batting, will it slide a lot if I put it on a quilt frame? Would I need to quilt on my standard sewing machine using a walking foot? Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

[Mary P.]

totally a guess, but maybe a spray basting product to "hold" the front to the backing?

[Mary P.]

mpiepho, since you are using flannel, you may not want batting as it is pretty warm already, but I do think it is a personal choice each quilter has to make. I use batting with minkie quilts that have cotton on one side and not for those that have flannel for either the top or backing. I don't have a long arm, so my machine and walking foot do the work and what you will want to do 1st is baste it very well. I used to use spray baste & pins, now I use spray baste & Vanish Extra thread. When getting to the quilting you will need to loosen your top tension and set your stitch to atleast a 3.0. I learned the hard way that minkie does not like to be quilted with tiny stitches and will pucker a lot on you.

Happy Quilting,
Linda in SD

[Mary P.]

THANK YOU. Your suggestions are very helpful.

[Mary P.]

Can anyone please share their experience with quilting with Minky. I have a flannel quilt top, and I plan on using Minky for the backing. Some people have told me that I do not need to use batting. If I do not use batting, will it slide a lot if I put it on a quilt frame? Would I need to quilt on my standard sewing machine using a walking foot? Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

I did a baby quilt with flannel and no batting and used Minky. I used 505 spray and then machine stitched on my domestic machine. I loved the feel of that quilt. It had a wonderful soft drape to it and I could just imagine the baby cuddling under it!

[Gloria H.]

I used flannel and no batting with a minky baby quilt. It had two layers of the flannel because I used a cutaway applique method. Even without the batting it was too heavy. It also took me a while to clean up the fuzzies. It looked great but.....

[Gloria H.]

I did a minky with flannel back on my longarm, and had trouble. I tried to be really careful and not stretch the minky, but it did stretch and the flannel was bunched up at bit when I took it off. I wish I had done it on my Bernina instead. I also did not use batting.

[Jean H.]

I made my GD a quilt using minky on back and batting (mistake), the batting it is very heavy but she loves it and now no one is aloud to use it she is 20 months old, I wanted to stitch in the ditch but ended up tying it, it was just to thick....Jean

[Mary P.]

Everyone's suggestions are very helpful. So I am going to go with my original thoughts. No batting, domestic machine with a walking foot or tie it. I was only hoping to use my Inspira frame to get more practice with it - but it sounds like I would probably end up with more frustration. Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions.

[Mary P.]

I have just made a baby quilt with crisp cotton fabrics on the top and a Minky-like product on the back. I did use batting since I didn't use flannels on the top. The JoAnn brand "Minky" might be thinner or less stretchy than the name brand, but I didn't have any trouble at all. I first spray basted all layers and then pinned. It turned out great using walking foot for ditch and free motion for other designs. It does turn out warm, thick and cuddly, alot like a comforter, but for a baby's "tummy time" or in the car, it will be great.

Nancy in NY with alot of rain forecast this week. Stay in and sew!