Joining Batting Tips

Do you have pieces of batting left over from a project and wonder what to do with them? Pieces you’d like to use up instead of adding them to the landfill. Little scraps might end up as stuffing for a pillow or a pet bed, but what about those in-between pieces, those which are too big to just toss away, yet too small to use in a quilt? Why not join the batting together to make one bigger piece?!

The process is super easy to do, and can be done on any Janome sewing machine, or even non-Janome machines, as well, lol! I’m using my beloved Janome MC9450QCP with the AcuFeed Flex Dual/Twin Foot Holder with the Ditch Quilting Foot (SD). The guide in the centre of the foot helps keep the batting edges butted together as I sew without overlapping.

When joining batting together make sure it is the same type of batting. It will be difficult to join an 80/20 batting with a high loft wool batting, for example, so keep like batting together.

Did you know that most battings have a right and wrong side? It sometimes takes close examination, but orienting the batting the correct way can make a difference in the finished quilted project. Some battings placed with the wrong side up can beard through the backing fabric and show on the back side of the quilt. You want to orient the batting so it’s placed on the quilt the way it was manufactured. The “dirty” side goes down, or the “dimples” are on top and the “pimples” are on the bottom.

Cut the edges of the batting pieces in a very straight line. To do this, place two pieces of batting on top of each other and use the edge of your long ruler and a rotary cutter to straighten the edge of both pieces at the same time. It is best to butt the batting edges together than to overlap them as it will avoid extra bulk and keep the finished quilt, or whatever the project, flat. Once completed, no one will ever know you “cheated”. lol!

When sewing the two pieces together, we want the batting to be as flat as possible, so I like using the multi-step zig-zag, which is stitch #10 in the Utility category of my machine, instead of the regular zig-zag stitch. The multi-step zig-zag stitch adds extra stitches in between the points, so the batting stays super flat, and doesn’t pull. If your machine just does a regular zig-zag stitch, you might try reducing your top tension to or to sew using the Janome Low Tension/Blue Dot Bobbin Holder.

To help avoid the stitches from pulling and distorting the batting, adjust the width and length of your stitch. I adjust the width of my machine to 7-9mm and length to 3mm. Make sure to match the thread to the colour of the batting as you don’t want it to shadow through the fabric which will go next to it. I used pink for demonstration purposes only.

Sew the pieces together without pulling on the batting, let the machine do the work.

Enjoy using up all those leftover batting pieces, which saves money, and the planet!

Monique