teacherbailey

I use Polar fleece (the fabric used for jackets) to back a lot of my quilts since I have family in Utah where it gets really cold...they like the snuggliness of it. It's 60" wide so most of my fleece backed quilts are that width. I buy it on sale for under $10 a yard and less. It machine quilts nicely and honestly, it's not going to lump or do anything weird so it's perfect for grandson quilts where I quilt it in a few straight lines to just hold the top and the fleece together. Fleece has some kind of base that holds it together (I found this out when I substituted it for batting in a purse pattern and tried putting grommets through it.....you can't!) so it would hold up to washing much better than exposed batting. All said, I often use the fleece with the quilt top (the fleece is the backing and batting, so just two layers) and love this.

MadQuilter

I have seen quilts where someone appliqued shapes cut from batting on the top, but I have never seen batting left exposed. If you were to applique a lot of pieces and overlap the batting, you would basically get the effect you are after. The batting manufacturer states how far apart the quilting lines can be and if you stay within those guidelines, you should be OK. Personally, I would not like exposed batting on the top but then I am not an art-quilter.

nancia

welcome! we love having newbies! you remind us not to get stodgy and stuck in our ways! I know of at least one fiber artist that uses tulle, or mesh as her top layer. sadly all your creative work would not last long under the rigors of everyday washers, dryers, kids, pets, and yes, even dear husbands (commonly referred to as dh, 8-). ) good luck with your idea! we'd never get anywhere if we didn't push and pull the envelope!! oops! my turn to pull! gotta go!

applique

I fused and stitched wool roving to a wall hanging for the clouds and it worked well for what I wanted.