JulieR

I'd guess by the quilting! The paper in your pockets is not secured into a shape in any way and can fly about at will. Paper inside a top, a bottom and enclosed by quilting on all sides, can "melt" into any state it wants, and when it dries it will be back to its original location, shape and state.

Again, that's pretty much how paper making works so I'm guessing it would have to be the same.

JulieR

We've owned two very old houses and have found newspaper in the walls of both of them. It's pretty neat, actually, because you can date the wall by the newspapers in it.

kay45

I'm with you guys on this, why? Even if I'm making a quilt to be donated, I take the same amount of time and effort and supplies as if I was making it for myself or a gift.

bigsister63

Good thought!!!!!!!!!!

kellen46

The Newspaper is for a paper piecing foundation and usually melts away with the first wash. A regular batting is used in the quilt. The acid is then gone and not a problem. Back then when I first did this technique cotton batting was not available, Polyester was expensive, I used old blankets as batting or what ever I could find that would work. The quilts did not rot, but rather were used up over the years...some worn out quilts received new tops and backs and were used up yet again. The wringer washer did more harm than the newspaper....

katykwilt

I saw a program a few years ago,(might have been w/Alex Anderson, but don't quote me on that!) that discussed some historic quilts that were found in Montana, perhaps in Helena. They were made way before the depression era, using homespun wool, I believe. Don't remember much, but realized that the wool was the warmth, not the paper batting, and was never washed or dried in a machine, so the paper survived. If I remember correctly, they were called paper quilts.

My grandparents all homesteaded in Montana, so the program caught my eye and reminded me how the old wool quilts were apt to become batting when they were worn out. Again, they were not washed by machine and were hung on the line to dry. Usually the outside was made of flour sacks. My grandmother also told me that quilts and blankets were rarely washed. They were hung out to "air". The tops were carefully covered when you folded the top sheet over them to keep them clean as well. I have a piece of crazy quilt she had made in the 1890's. A loose muslin was used as the base of it. Not sure what the quilt backing was -- only a small piece of cotton was left on the outside seam.

mel

I don't think she is using it as batting.....I think it is used as stabilizer.

QuiltE

If you checked the link in the first post, it clearly shows that the newspaper is not just as a stabilizer and was being left in as batting

Olivia's Grammy

I have several med sized blocks dated in Dec of 1936. The reason I know the date is bc they were back with newspaper. I would not use newspaper for batting, how would you wash the quilt? Many, many years ago the quilts were not washed just aired.

GailG

I don't know that the intentions of the pioneer quilters were to wash those quilts. They were made for insulation (especially for the soldiers).The quilts were probably given a good shaking and perhaps hung in the sun and wind to air out. Times have changed. We are a generation obscessed with cleanliness. In those days, priorities were different.

Re: a previous post in this thread,
I remember something from Alex Anderson's show where they showed how the quilters used a whole sheet of newsspaper, started in the middle, and crazy patched it until the whole sheet was covered.