KarenShu

Good morning all...and thank you in advance for your knowledge!

I have made a king size quilt that I want to quilt with no batting and a flannel backing so we can use it for summer.

The lady who does my big quilt jobs says she can't guarantee the back will look nice because of the tension and not having the usual amount of layers with her beast. I've thought about quilting it myself but I'm not sure I can handle something that large on my home machine, and it would only be SITD or stitch next to the ditch and maybe tying in the center of the large blocks.

Any ideas about what I should do? Should I use the flannel backing with no batting, should I put a sheet in between the layers?

Y'alls help is much appreciated.

juliasb

I so understand wanting the lighter quilt. It presents its own unique challenges. It is doable though. I have done such quilts by hand. It takes a bit of time and I use a large hoop and depending on the quilt will use stencils or just SITD over the whole quilt. The quits, as to be expected will be thin.
However I think you might regret making a king size quilt without the thinnest of bats as a minimal It doesn't need to be a real "warm" quilt but you should have a bit more stability and the bat will provide that. How do I know this?? . It does make it easier to quilt.

Tartan

Flannel can be a little harder to work with on a home machine. It tends to want to cling to itself creating wrinkles. I used a busy flannel back and was able to invisible hand stitch a couple of pleats down so they disappeared. If you are having a professional quilt it, ask her to use a thin batt if that would work best on her machine

KarenShu

When y'all say thin batting, do you mean a lightweight batting or a piece of flannel for the batting and regular fabric for the backing?

RonieM

I had a customer who wanted me to quilt 2 top sheets together. Never again! It was a nightmare trying to get the tension just right without that batting layer.

I would suggest putting the thinnest quality batting you can find with a regular cotton backing.

KarenShu

Thanks. I ended up purchasing the lightest batting I could find online.

Jingle

I quilted a table topper without any batting. Never again as it was very difficult to move it around for FMQ.

Iceblossom

I prefer a piece of flannel to no batting. Prewash first! Gives just enough to have something for the stitches to bite into. Also makes a color barrier which can be helpful, say if you have a dark back but pieces of white on the top.

I don't use flannel for backs very often, I have too many pets and the hair is an issue for me. Once it is prewashed, I don't have any real workmanship problems with it but not all flannel is equal! If you don't already have the backing, consider a high quality flannel sheet for the back instead of pieced yardage.

KarenShu

Thanks. I really like flannel backing for the warmth. But it has given me issues even when I SITD on my home machine...stitches get skipped a lot.

tropit

I have some summer quilts that were made in Hawaii, where it is always so warm. They are all tied and not quilted. You might consider going that route.