As anyone can see, I have been on a double gauze kick of late. I love the fabric. It took quite a bit of convincing from my Shannon Fabrics rep, Margaret. She was sure that I would love the stuff. But, I was slow to catch on. What is unusual about that is that I love to be the first to try any new fiber being introduced into the quilt world. I was one of the first to load my shop up with Cuddle, or what is commonly known as “minky”. I prefer Cuddle. It is the Shannon Fabrics product. They have such superior fabrics. One shouldn’t be fooled by cheaper versions that will loose nap and fibers when washed and dried. We can find those cheaper versions at big box stores such as Hobby Lobby and Joann Fabrics. Don’t do it. It’s not worth it. Anyway, I digress.
She convinced me at Market. I saw all of the product in the Shannon Fabrics booth. I suddenly caught on! I could think of a million things that I could do with it.
Now, I hate to date myself, but I was in high school in the last 4 years of the 1970s. Gauze was huge back then. There were all kinds of clothing being made from it. Then, it just kind of faded away. Well it’s back and much improved.
Before I could begin talking about how to use it, I would have to sew a few things myself. And Sew I did. I made a little quilt out of the Ruffle Fabric and the double gauze. I posted on this earlier. It was wonderful and turned out great. But, that one required no quilting. This next one would.
Then, I used it to make a skirt. That turned out adorable as well. So, I cut up some strips and sewed it together with Cuddle strips. I planned to kit this up for the Quilt Expo in Madison. But, would it sew well together with the Cuddle? The proof is in the putting. Is that the expression?
I sewed the double gauze strips to the Cuddle using my walking foot. I pinned it exceptionally well. I pinned and sewed. Then, I added flannel to the ends so that there would be a stabilizing factor. Plus, I wanted to use a bunch of different textures together. They say that this develops infants’ brains when they have a bunch of different textures.
Then, I decided that I would use double gauze on the back. The folks at Shannon fabrics that developed this fabric assured me that no bearding would occur with the batting. Bearding is when the batting comes through the fabric after it is washed. With the addition of scrim and polyesters to batting, this is often not heard of in this day and age. But there are times when someone is being a purist and uses a wool batting or a cotton batting that is free of artificial fibers or scrim. I am not one of those people that worry too much about that. To me, a lot of emphasis is put on the end product and how long will it continue to look good.
So, I laid my double gauze backing on the kitchen table, wrong side up, pin box at the ready.
Then I added my batting. I always use Hobb’s Heirloom 80/20. Like I said, I like a little polyester to help it to hold it’s shape and prevent bearding. It will also wash up better, and retain a little loft. The other thing about polyester is this; Have you ever put a quilt folded neatly into a closet and when you took it out months later found that there were permanent creases in it? Well, the polyester will help to prevent that.
So, on went the quilt top. I smoothed it out and pinned. And pinned. And pinned. You really can’t skimp on the pinning. It’s very important to pin adequately. Everything hinges on the basting. Quilting pins can be expensive, but don’t skimp. They are multi use and will last forever I promise.
Now, do you see that fuzzy long haired Cuddle? It’s super fun and cute. The pins will get a little lost, but pin the heck out of all of it. We will get to quilting it later on in the discussion.
Once it is all pinned then go ahead and quilt it. The pins must be about 2 inches apart. Quilting it is no different. You may want to lesson the pressure on the presser foot. When I came to the long haired stuff, I flipped it over and quilted from the back. Be very careful to remove the pins before hitting them with the needle! You will be able to see them well from the back. I also quilted that a lot looser. In other words, not as close together. When I was out of that zone, I simply flipped it back to the right side. It’s as easy as that. Quilting on Cuddle should not scare you, as it quilts beautifully as long as you pin it well!
Here’s how my quilting turned out.
It’s not bound yet, but I will bind it with the flannel.
Here’s how it looks from the back, and it’s so soft and wonderful!
