qwltnldy Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 Once upon a time many years ago a quilting friend told me that batting has a grain and which direction I should load it onto the frame. I have searched this site and cannot find any threads that talk about batting having a grain but it most certainly does. All the discussions are about fabric grain and I did find one thread that mentioned that the grain should be "up and down". I think that means perpendicular to the rollers. Does anyone have any wisdom on this topic? I think this might explain some of my problems with batting that sometimes wants to bunch up toward the end of a quilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 What kind of batting are you using that is bunching up at the bottom? I'm not getting what this means. I haven't heard of batting having grain--all I am concerned about usually is which way any needle-punching goes so I can load it correct-side up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 I haven't heard of batting having a grain either but sometimes I've noticed that batting stretches more in one direction vs the other. I wonder if that is why they say it is a grain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newmillie2010 Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 when i have had issues with batting 'bunching up' at the end, i determined it was because i had not taken enough time to smooth out the batting as i progressed. i take a lot of time making sure that the top is straight ... but sometimes i get lax about lifting that quilt top and making sure that the batting is laying smooth ... hence, when i get towards the bottom i was finding that the batting was bunching up, mainly in the middle. my bad ... so now i always always always lift the top, smooth down the batting, making sure it isn't gathering up in the middle, and then l lay the top down and straighten it as needed. btw, i free float my tops which allows me to lift that top and see what's going on with the batting. whew ... as to whether or not batting as grain, i don't think so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyLake Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 That's an interesting topic, Robin. I know fabric has less stretch on the straight of grain, than the cross-grain, so I imagine that batting would too. In other words, it would stretch more perpendicular to the batting roll. I am careful about pulling on the batting after each fabric advance, so it doesn't bunch up in there, especially if I am tight on the batting measurement. The only batt I've had a little trouble with bunching is quilters dream cotton; because if it does bunch up, it is thick, due to how dense the cotton is. What kind of batting are you having issues with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwltnldy Posted October 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 The bunching happened a couple of times when I used Warm & White and Warm & Natural. I am in the habit of smoothing out the batting all the way down as I go. The bunching seemed to be a result of my not stabilizing by SID all the way down a custom quilt before doing the quilting. Perhaps the density of the stitching resulted in bunched batting. Next time this occurs I will take a picture and post it. It's really hard to describe without pictures. As for grain, Hobbs 80/20 batt is definitely more stretchy in one direction than the other. I have not noticed whether W & N or W & W has the same characteristic. This was defined as grain by my friend. I went ahead and loaded it with the less stretchy direction going top to bottom. I will try to remember to post the end results when I get there. This quilt is 98" x 108" so it will be a couple days before I know anything! Test case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwltnldy Posted October 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 Uh Oh, Ladylake! I just read your post and as you can see by my previous post, I loaded it perpendicular. Already started quilting, so I guess I'll be watching it really close. I also learned from the same friend that batting with scrim is less stretchy than batting without scrim. Quilter's Dream has no scrim, so that would explain the stretching. I had a 120" QD roll for a year and hated it. I was really glad when that was gone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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