Sandwiching your quilt.
Quilt sandwiches are the foundation of your quilts and the quality of your quilting. They are made up of one layer of cotton batting sandwiched by two layers of fabric, the backing and the top.
The batting provides loft to the sandwich, making it easier for you to quilt. The fabric holds everything together and gives the sandwich structure.
There are many different types of batting, but I prefer 100% cotton because it seems to handle creasing better than some other options. It’s also important to choose a quilt backing that you love. This will be the layer that shows on the back of your finished quilt, so make sure it’s something you like!
To sandwich your quilt, lay out the backing fabric, wrong side up, next place the batting on top of the backing and then add the quilt top right side facing up. Pin your quilt with just enough quilting safety pins so that you can turn it over without it coming apart. Turn the quilt over so the backing is facing up. Run you hand over the backing to make sure it is smooth and taut, if it bunches up remove the nearest pin, smooth out and replace the pin. Repeat the process for the entire backing. Next turn the quilt over so the top is facing up and repeat the smoothing out process. Add a lot more pins. You basically want to place pins 4 inches apart in rows covering the entire quilt. This will keep it from shifting as you quilt. Once you have completed pinning you are ready to start quilting. Quilting will be covered in another post.