I'm designing what I hope will be a successful queen-sized quilt... with two differently-quilted sides.

That is, I'm quilting in the ditch for each pieced side, but the piecing on each side will be different. (I call it a "coin" quilt, because you can flip it.) I don't want one side of the quilt to have the stitch lines of the opposite side, and I can't just do an abstract quilting thing, or straight lines, or whatever.

SO, I'm going to quilt the pieced "tops" each to their own piece of batting, then tie the two sides together, batting side in, and bind the edge as normal.

Questions:

• Will the batting be stable enough if it's quilted to just one piece of fabric, instead of sandwiched between two of them?
  
  
• Will there be wear-and-tear problems with two layers of batting next to each other inside that quilt, and only tied? It's 3x the work (quilting the tops twice, then tying the whole thing) but I'm willing to do it for this project. How close together should the ties be to minimize batting bunching? This quilt will be used, not just looked at, and will have to be washed about once every month, or so.
  
  
• Should I make the binding strips double-wide (e.g. 4", folded in half to 2", and stitched with 3/8" seam allowance, to allow for the extra thickness of batting? I rather like the look of wide binding, myself, but it doesn't mitre as easily.
  

I've used two layers of batting before in a small quilt that was tied only and I use it constantly and it is now 14 years old. For your first question, I don't know how you should do that-you should probably do a couple 12 inch squares and try both ways and see what works better. You could experiment with the binding width on that, too. You should always tie a quilt at least every 3-6 inches.

I am very interested in this subject. I want to make a quilt on my lap instead of on a quilt frame- no room. I can make and quilt each square but am not sure how to put the squares together.
owl

I've been watching this hoping to see more responses to it. I have limited space, although I hope to make room for a small frame in the next year after DH finishes a "guest bathroom/canning kitchen" project in the basement. It will result in a small walled off area where the freezer and pantry shelves are, which I'm claiming all to myself. He will not be allowed to store or stash anything there - totally mine. Anyway, my crafting table, sewing machine and other 'essentials' will be there, and I will slap some paint on the rafters and peg-board walls (yet to come) to make it survivable, but am really thinking a lot about quilting lately. I love the idea of making a two-sided quilt where nothing matches for a totally different effect depending on which side shows.

My main question is, would it be too much to have two layers of batting? I was thinking, like puttgirl, that I might just tie off instead of any stitching.

Yeah-Two layers of batting is very hard to quilt through,(especially if it's thick). Best to tie it off. And Owlhollow, you can do that, but it would be easier to piece the blocks together first and then quilt it. I use a quilting hoop for all my quilts after they are all pieced.

My quilt rack always hung on the ceiling and then due to circumstances beyond my control I had to take it down.I am finishing the quilt with a hoop but don't think I could keep it very straight if I started from the begining that way. I have acually never tried it, might work. Do you pin it together and then quilt it?
owl

Yes, I've pinned them together if they're not too big. Bigger quilts, I baste in a criss-cross pattern about every 3-4 inches apart. It IS a pain, but it saves alot of work later on. Always start the quilting in the middle and work your way out. If you've basted good, and the back under the quilt is smooth in the hoop, it should come out just fine.

Thanks for the responses, but I don't think my question was understood:

I'm quilting one quilt top to a piece of batting WITHOUT BACKING IT. Then I'm quilting another quilt top to ANOTHER piece of batting WITHOUT BACKING IT. I'm doing this because I don't want the quilting stitches to show from one side to the other. I'm tying it because the two faces of this quilt will require anchoring to each other. My question is about the wear-and-tear on the batting as the quilt is used as a blanket for my bed.

Will the batting bunch up if two layers of it are rubbing up against each other, like hand-washing socks in the sink, and can I avoid that kind of distress by tying the quilt at intervals of X number of inches? (The X is where you tell me how many inches should be between each quilt-tie.)

Yes, I understood that you meant no backing fabric, just the battings together. The answer is the same, though, you would have to tie it to keep the batting in place (especially being a large quilt). Since it will be quilted first, though, you may be able to tie it much farther apart than every few inches. Maybe you could get away with tying it where the corners of the blocks meet.

I understand what you are trying to accomplish here, would it be possible to put a thin muslin between the 2 layers of batting? This would keep the 2 bats from rubbing each other. Might make the quilt bulkier too.

What kind of batting are you using? I always use the cotton stuff, kinda pricey but doesn't fall apart. You can even wash it before using it to allow for shrinkage. It's called Warm & Natural:

http://www.warmcompany.com/wnpage.html

I think with the Warm & Natural you could do it like you described.

Also, I have never used a quilt frame. Just baste the whole works together, start in the middle and hand quilt on a large hoop. It always turns out great as long as you keep the layers tight and flat as you go.

I think that we did in fact understand, so sorry if things sounded confused. I also think the muslin layer between batting layers would be a good idea, just in case there is a batting friction problem that could drag the batting around even after stitching and ball it up (like in the washing machine) if it's not really weaved well? It really shouldn't add much thickness to speak of, but will add weight. I am really interested in pics of this Elfie. Please photographically journal this and post just for 'lil ol' me. K?

I've been convinced in the LiveJournal Quilting community that making the quilt FIVE layers thick (top, batt, thin broadcloth or cotton, batt, bottom) is the best way to go for quilt longevity.

Haven't started designing yet - I got a couple of curtain commissions for Elven Hands, someone wants to know if I can do up a matched set of 24 diapers, and another guy called me yesterday OUT OF THE BLUE asking if I want to set up my table at a country market in his area. Yikes! And I haven't even started building my inventory for the summer market where I live!

Stupid priorities.

I won't use anything but 100% cotton batting for this quilt, Mumsey. I can't stand the way the 80-20 cotton-poly feels. And I LOVE heavy quilts, so the extra bulk won't bother me.

I'll do my best to document the journey, but if I post WIP pics, I'm not going to tell you what they are. I don't like to tell people what it is because that invariably stalls my mojo.

I too am intrigued with the different quilting or reversible idea. I am designing an art quilt with art by my Grandma, Mom, Sister and Me. I was trying to find a way to design it so that the back would look as good and I really think your idea would work great with a quilt top/batting/muslin/batting/quilt top and a binding stitched through all layers. I would love to see pics of your progress.

quote:

Elfie said: I don't like to tell people what it is because that invariably stalls my mojo.

(With a bad Fargo [the movie] accent) Ah-hah, understood there, then. If I should happen to see a pic of fabric just floating around with no explanation, I'll know then. You don't need to do a day to day update, I'd be happy with a complete chronicle when you're done. I certainly wouldn't want to cause you any mojo issues. They can get so messy...