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Friday, January 16, 2015

Batting Ideas


One of the things that all quilters have kicking around in the sewing room is leftover batting pieces that are trimmed from the edges of finished quilts. What do we do with all that batting? 
Don't throw it out! There are so many ways to use this pile of wonderfulness! 
I did a demo at my guild meeting this week to share these ideas of how to use up batting scraps:



* make a large quilt using the “quilt-as-you-go” technique (see my sample quilts here and here)
"With a little help from my friends"  5" x 6"



* use small pieces as batting for miniature quilts (my favorite way to use up batting)


* make a sandwich with old/ugly fabric and batting scraps to practice machine quilting


* use batting squares to make rag quilts 
Baby Max on his dog mat


* make flat dog mats (like a miniature quilt with a little stabilizing quilting)


* use scraps to dust your sewing machine or house (with or without your swiffer)

* use small bits for pillow stuffing (with crushed walnut shells or on it's own)


* make a dog bed (throw scraps of batting, thread snips and fabrics into a pillowcase and sew up the end when full) and donate it to the humane society 
Machine stitched batting


* join smaller pieces with hand or machine stitching, or with heat press tape to make a full size batt



One tip for using old battings scraps is to toss them in the dryer before using them. Use a low heat setting to get the dust out if they have been sitting around for a while (years!) Otherwise you might start sneezing :)
And if you don't want to do any of these things, take your batting scraps to a guild meeting and give them to someone who will use them. 
Have a happy Friday!

19 comments:

  1. Great ideas all of them. I save all of mine for so many little things too and the tiniest of slivers are put in a bag with the timmings from my quilts while sewing and used to stuff dog beds for the guild.

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  2. I especially like the idea of tosing them in the dryer to refresh them and remove those extra dust bunnies!

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  3. I keep all of my batting scraps in a bin in my sewing room and use them for smaller projects after sewing a few together if necessary. I find they are like scraps in my stash--they multiply when I am not looking!

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  4. Don't we all have these scraps too!!!You should have said we could send them to you! Wouldn't you like to receive a box full of batting scraps!!! lol

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  5. great idea.... I just added to my PILE yesterday, I use the fusible tape stuff and then use it often in donation quilts. your ideas are great!

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  6. I sew them together by hand making the small pieces into one large piece. Batting isn't cheap here so I waste none of it. If the pieces are too small to do that I too use them on smaller projects.

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  7. Yup, keep them all and try to use them up. I store them seperate too - wools, cottons, cotton/poly, and poly as I don't want to mix them when using. I use the smallest bits for stuffing bears.

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  8. if the pieces are big enough I always piece them together for baby quilts I tend to use a lot of them up that way. I have also used smaller pieces to wrap up Xmas decorations before packing them away in the boxes.

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  9. What a great topic Kathy! I just used all my batting scraps up! Yippee :) I recently have done several smaller projects and I whip stitched the battings then ironed them flat and used them as I would a regular piece strategically positioning the seams here it wouldn't be noticed at all at it isn't on any of the projects :) Thanks for the info too... great idea to donate instead of throwing away batting ends you won't use though :) Kathi

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  10. This is a great topic -- I have used saved batting scraps for pin cushions and miniature quilts, but hadn't thought of using them for the swiffer! Great idea!

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  11. Great ideas Kathy! I will make rag quilts for gifts once in a great while too with the smaller pieces.:)

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  12. oh...I can never toss even the smallest bits of batting.....currently I am making some nesting balls for the birds. I plan to place them outside in early spring so that the birds can come snag bits to line their nests.
    thanks for some great ideas!

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  13. They work great along with Insulbright for pot holders, too.
    Thanks for all the tips.
    Hugs

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  14. Great list of ideas. I use the second and third ones on the list the most.

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  15. I confess to not saving trimmings or odd shaped bits--I can only save so much! I do sew together pieces for larger quilt needs and save narrow pieces for mini quilts, ornaments and mug rugs

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  16. Lots of great ideas for busting left over batting. Thanks for sharing your guild program.

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  17. Scraps of Hobbs 80/20 make excellent soft scrubbers. Use once or twice, toss them out. I always have lots of these.

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  18. GReat ideas, I have a large bag for mine and always use them up for one thing or another.

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  19. Dog beds! GENIUS idea- my dog always needs a back up when his is in the wash and I normally use a duvet but they don't seem so cheap any more.

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