Janice H 5 Posted April 18, 2020 Report Share Posted April 18, 2020 I am quilting a beautiful applique quilt. It has nice, soft, multi color batik backing. The background of the squares is beige- like neutral. She provided an inexpensive cotton batting. I have many, many, tiny pokies all through the backing. I have changed the needle three times. Each time going to a smaller, new needle. I am using Bottom Line and So Fine in Salute and Beach. I have never had such a mess!! She wants to enter the quilt in a show. Help! ! Is there anything I can put on the back(pencil or pen wise) to camoflauge the pokies on the back? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
micajah 152 Posted April 18, 2020 Report Share Posted April 18, 2020 Perhaps you should call her to come see what is happening to her quilt before you try to fix anything. None of the problems are related to anything you have done -it is all due to the materials she has given you. Debbie quiltmonkey 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
quiltmonkey 443 Posted April 26, 2020 Report Share Posted April 26, 2020 ack! the dreaded pokies. we've all experienced them. some situations are worse than others. you have several options: you can stop now and remove the quilting stitches, find a different batting to use, or a combination of different batting and different backing. sometimes it's the backing fabric that's the culprit. perhaps you have the batting flipped the wrong direction. that could also be an issue. a last resort is to get a pigma pen and color in the pokies. that is something that longarm quilters do in situations that have no other options. good luck! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LinneaMarie 38 Posted June 11, 2020 Report Share Posted June 11, 2020 I've got POKIES!! I hate pokies. I thought it was me, but this is the second quilt with them. The first was for me; just placemat. This one is a customer and it's homespun front and BACK! I'm using Hobbs 80/20. It used to be wonderful; not so much anymore!! So i'm thinking of taking out two rows and using Quilters Dream Blend. Shoulda known!! quiltmonkey 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
quiltmonkey 443 Posted June 13, 2020 Report Share Posted June 13, 2020 LinneaMarie, it's not the batting, it's the backing fabric. Can you change the backing fabric? LinneaMarie 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jimerickson 467 Posted June 16, 2020 Report Share Posted June 16, 2020 LinneaMarie: Shana's right about the fabric, but I'd like to add that the 80/20 batting you're using isn't the best when it comes to bearding as well. I prefer to use a poly or more preferably, wool because they don't beard. I don't use 80/20 much anymore unless the customer wants cotton batting. Jim LinneaMarie 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LinneaMarie 38 Posted July 3, 2020 Report Share Posted July 3, 2020 I finally did finish it. And Shana is right; it was the backing because it was homespun loose woven stuff. But I changed to Quilters Dream BLACK poly so all went great after that. On a side note, I used it on a set of placemats and the backing was RJR Thimbleberries from a long time ago. I had the same problem! quiltmonkey 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
quiltmonkey 443 Posted August 27, 2020 Report Share Posted August 27, 2020 so glad you were able to resolve this LinneaMarie! Many times, the batting can help hide the pokies. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trudie 2 Posted August 27, 2020 Report Share Posted August 27, 2020 I have also found that the needle usually needs to be changed to avoid the pokies. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Janice H 5 Posted September 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2020 I received a quilt to quilt (batting furnished by quilt owner). Loaded it, stitched across to hold the batting to the backing. Just for the heck of it (because of previous experiences) I rolled it to look at the backing & stitches. Sure enough there was an abundant (to put it lightly) number of pokies. I ripped the batting off (king size quilt) flipped the batting over and put in the smallest needle I have. I stitched again for about two feet and checked the backing. No pokies!! I checked the bag the batting arrived in, there are no instructions about which side is to go up. I am going to call or write the company. This could have been a disaster for me. I don't know how to tell which side goes up. It is a beautiful quilt. She pieced the back with several pieces of the dark cloth that was used on the front. Glad I checked!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Janice H 5 Posted December 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2020 I am (most definitely) the pokey queen. It happened again. Quilt backing is pieced with two different fabrics. One finished with no pokies. The other fabric had a zillion pokies. I threw it in the dryer on delicate for 15 minutes. The small pokies disappeared completely. I took a marker close to the color of the fabric with the pokies and lightly touched the pokies. It looks great. How lucky can I be!! The fabric that is fine is 100%cotton. The fabric with the pokies is a mix of cotton and polyester. She is a fairly new quilter. I will be more careful with the batting I use if she uses the poly fabric again. dbams 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
melissajeffrey 0 Posted January 19 Report Share Posted January 19 You're doing great. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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