Felting and then Quilting

[Frances]

Have you consider combining quilting and felting - took this off of facebook
from Roz Leggee page


"I finished this felt quilt today - squares made from Jacob and Perendale wool nuno felted onto cotton muslin, stitched together, lightly padded with polyester wadding and quilted onto black cotton fabric. Think I might be brave and do a bed sized one next smile emoticon"



What a great way to make something large but in smaller sections -

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[Shepherdess]

Making felt fabric to be cut and sewn is great. I find it easier to felt the fabric then make a coat than to try and get the right fit as a seamless garment.

[MTRuth]

Bet that's a cozy quilt.

[Pandagirl]

I can't wait to see your results Frances.

[Frances]

Oh - I have never quilted - hoping ncquilter (Mary Stori) will comment since she is an expert at quilting to give use some tips. Can you tag someone in a post on the forum.

[Pandagirl]

Try quoting her Frances or private message her.

[zed]

That looks really nice.

[lyn]

The black, white and grey works so well - lovely quilt.

[luvswool and dyestuff]

Great idea, Frances. Wool is often incorporated into quilting as batting, so why not the top as well? This would be a very cozy cover.

[ncquilter]

Thank you Frances for alerting me to this conversation.....sorry I missed it.....blame my inattention to being in a frenzy making a baby quilt for our niece.....(why do we put some projects off till a serious deadline approaches?!?)

Here's some thoughts about using nuno felted wool to create a large bed quilt. Typically quilts are created by sewing small scraps of fabric into larger "blocks" which are then stitched together to make the quilt top (then layered with batting and backing....all three layers are quilted together.) I'd use the "block" approach with nuno felted sections, keeping the 'block' sizes no larger than 16". This will make the overall piece stronger.....rather than few really large sections. If you wish to avoid quilting the layers together....choose a small size for your block....such as 6" but no larger than 8". Once the edges of all those blocks are attached to each other.....these small blocks shouldn't need any further quilting, except if it's for decorative purposes. Obviously, one would have to make a large nuno felted piece and cut it into the desired size squares.

I would not sew the 'blocks' together using the traditional 1/4" seam allowance quilters do (which would add a lot of bulk and probably lumpiness as well). Instead, I'd butt the finished edges of the nuno blocks and then stitch them together onto a fabric foundation that is a bit larger than you wish the bed quilt to be. (To allow for shrinkage during the stitching process).

Muslin would be a good choice. The stitching could be done by hand...think decorative embroidery. Or it could be stitched by machine, using decorative stitches or even a large zig-zag stitch (meaning not close together like a satin stitch....) The thread color could either match or contrast....depending upon the statement you wish to make. Even the style of thread, such as a slightly thicker decorative thread can provide another design element. You'd obviously need the stitch pattern to be wide enough to securely connect the edges of each adjoining 'block'.

Unless a heavy bed covering is desired, I don't think I'd bother using any sort of batting (wadding).........though of course a lightweight one would be fine. However, if the first step was done neatly....and on a more desirable foundation fabric other than muslin......one might even consider the covering complete at that point.(except for finishing the edges). If not.....add a piece of decorative fabric to the wrong side and quilt the layers together. Again, this can be done by hand or machine.

The final step will be to finish the outside edges of the covering. We quilters use narrow binding that is stiched on the front side of the quilt and turned to the back where it is secured to the back with hand or machine stitching. This encases all the raw edges and serves to add strength to the area of a quilt that tends to get tugged and pulled.

**Now there is one other approach.....one could create individual 'finished' pieces like the one Frances showed.....and these could be joined together by stitching their butted edges together....a wide zig-zag machine stitch should work assuming these larger sections all have fairly uniform edges.

I hope I've explained this well enough. It's not something I've done using these materials but I can see where it'd be such an attractive and fun project!

[koffipot]

Lots of good advice there from Mary. I make felt and I quilt, though I don't think I'd go for making a full size felted bed quilt, warm and cosy as it would undoubtedly be. I certainly wouldn't add a POLYESTER wadding/batting - pure sacrilege!!!


My felt and quilt combo has been limited to much smaller projects, such as nuno-felted and quilted bags, one of which I know you've all seen before, so I won't bore you with a repeat show.

[Frances]

Thank you Mary so much for your detailed information - maybe next fall I will start on something small.

[ncquilter]

Frances.....holler if you need help.....we actually don't live that far from each other and could possible meet halfway for lunch and show and tell!!

[Deleted]

Hello Frances, I think your felted quilt looks great.. Wonderful job in creating it.. Smile

[Frances]

Oh Judy that is not my work - just an example I posted for the idea