World Wide Quilting Page

Question of the Week

Question for the week of July 22, 2002:

Our question this week comes Jan

I would like to know what causes - and how to prevent - my quilt batting to work its way to the outside of the quilt resulting in stringing and pilling. I use a cotton-polyester batting. The quilt is constructed using quality cotton fabrics.

Charlotte :
I, too, have switched to all cotton batting (Dream Cotton) and no longer use any poly blends -- that works best for me.

Louise :
I don't know what causes this. It's only happened to me twice, once with poly batting and once with cotton. Go figure. I always use a sewing maching needle specifically for quilting, like Carla suggested.

Carla :
If you are machine quilting you can try and use the machine needles specifically for quilting. Not sure if this will help but worth a try as they are inexpensive and will last if you remember to take them out when doing "normal" piecing and other sewing.

Kathy in WA :
It's called "bearding" and it can be a big problem with polyester. I have a gorgeous quilt with dark fabrics that I use poly batting in. The bearding is just heartbreaking. I have switched to using cotton batting.

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