10 Minute Tip

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Today's tip is one that you might already know about, but there are lots of ways to accomplish Piecing Leftover strips of Batting so I'm going to show you the method that works for me. I have a bin in which I store my leftover strips of batting. Once I cut away the extra from the project I am basting, I take the strip to the cutting table and square it up, before I roll it up and stash it away for later. When the bin starts to get full (or it's so full that I can't shove one more piece into it) I make a pieced batting from the strips. Since they are already trimmed up, they are ready to go. I simply take two strips and zig zag them together on the sewing machine.

 

 

I don't pin or overlap them...I just butt them up next to each other and use my hands (one placed flat on each piece) to feed them through evenly. I couldn't get a photo of my hand placement because I was holding my iPhone...duh.

 

I set my machine to the longest and widest zig zag stitch and use any light colored thread that happens to be handy. By going slowly, I can make sure the pieces will be snug together and lay flat once they are pieced. 

 

I simply keep adding strips until my batting is wide enough for my quilt top. I do this for almost all of my donation quilts, but it works well for wall hangings too. The zig zagged seam isn't even noticeable when I am machine quilting the quilt. I have never had a problem with it bunching or separating. I can't even find it, once the quilt is quilted. It's a great way to used up those trimmings and save some money at the same time.

 

Enjoy every stitch!

Diane