Welcome to Week 6 of the Use Your Stash QAL! This is our final week, and I hope you've enjoyed this QAL.
A quick reminder that all participants of this QAL can get discounted long arm quilting from our following sponsers:
The Quilting Mill: 20% off longarm quilting not including batting or return shipping (US only) + 20% off digital pantographs for longarm quilters (international) until 3/31/23
This week's social media prompt is this:
What are your favorite hacks for quilt backings and batting? Have you ever reused alternate materials (such as old blankets) for batting?
Our final topic is Batting and Backing, and how we can choose more sustainable options for each. First, a note: Any choice we make has an environmental cost, as we all know! The best option is almost always to reduce our consumption and use something we already have. The next best option is to carefully consider the pros and cons of material options. But it's important to remember that all options have their own costs; we all know that cotton can have a high environmental cost due to water and pesticide usage, and synthetic materials have many environmental issues. There is no magic answer; all we can do is try to reduce our consumption and make the most responsible choices available to us.
First, let's chat about batting! There are so many options when it comes to batting, including not even using it.
Batting Alternatives
- No Batting: This idea may have some quilt purists clutching their pearls, but you can always make a quilt without batting - especially if you are looking for a lightweight summer quilt.
- Batting Substitutes: Using second hand materials as a batting substitute is one of the most sustainable batting options out there. Depending on the type of quilt you're making, here are some options:
- Second hand sheets - especially those that still have structural integrity, but might be reaching the end of their lifespan for aesthetic reasons like stains, small tears, etc - can be a good batting substitute for lightweight quilts. Flannel sheets can especially make a nice batting layer.
- Old blankets - Fleece or cotton blankets that aren't getting a lot of use anymore are fantastic for heavier, warmer quilts.
- Franken-Batting: This isn't technically a batting alternative, but it doesn't require purchasing new batting! Save your batting off-cuts to sew together (just make sure they're the same fiber content to eliminate uneven shrinkage.) Follow this tutorial for great tips!
Batting Materials
If you're purchasing new batting for a project, here are a couple of alternatives to standard cotton, wool, and poly batting you may want to investigate.
- Recycled Polyester - Specifically, Quilter’s Dream Green Dream is made from 100% recycled bottles! I haven't found much information on the process of how this is created, but it's certainly worth a closer look.
- Bamboo - I personally love bamboo batting. It has a lovely drape, and in my opinion creates the softest quilts! Bamboo is often considered a good sustainable option because it is so easy to grow and is much less resource intensive than cotton. However, there are downsides to bamboo; it can be grown irresponsibly (i.e, clearcutting forests to create space) and the process used to create bamboo fabrics is important. Mechanical processing of bamboo is the best method, but also the least common as it is cost prohibitive. There are two primary methods chemical processes used to create fabric or fibers from bamboo:
- Viscose Rayon production uses dangerous chemicals to turn the bamboo fibers into fabric, and produces toxic waste that pollutes the air and water. The chemicals used have a long documented history of causing severe harm to factory workers and people living nearby.
- Lyocell/Tencell production uses chemicals to turn the bamboo fibers into fabric, but these chemicals are much less harmful and the production process is a closed loop system, meaning the processing chemicals are reused so there is very little chemical waste. *An important note for both of these chemical processes is that the chemicals are not present in the final product.
Now… on to backing! We have already covered some good options for backing alternatives in previous weeks, but I will include them here as well to be thorough.
Sustainable Backing Options
- Another quilt top! I know, I know, this might sound a bit out there… but, if you are like many quilters and have a backlog of quilt tops that don't have a plan or destination yet, why not try making a double sided quilt? That's one set less of batting and backing to figure out. Check out this tutorial for some tips.
- Vintage or thrifted textiles: I've said it before but it's worth repeating - second hand sheets, curtains, duvet covers, and blankets can all make unique and sustainable quilt backings!
- A Stash Back: If you have a bit of stash yardage that matches your quilt and remnants left over from your quilt's fabric requirements, you can piece together a fun and unique back without having to purchase new fabric. Check out the hashtag #partyinthequiltback for inspiration!
