Seaschell tips for quilting with minky

Goody, goody gumdrops!!!  Today I have a real treat for you guys!  I'd like to introduce you all to Carmen, a friend of mine and member of the Fort Collins Modern Quilt Guild. 

At our meeting in January, she finished piecing a lovely quilt top and said she was going to back it with minky.  Well, I was completely intrigued and asked her if she would share some of her experiences with her process with you all.  I hope you enjoy Carmen's post!!

 

Hi there, sewtakeahike readers!

I'm so excited to be guest-posting for Penny today! Let me tell you a little about myself... I'm Carmen, and I blog over at seaschell. I dabble in several different crafty areas, including quilting, crocheting, a little scrapbooking, and some general sewing. In the real world, I'm a kindergarten teacher in Colorado, I've been married for five years, and I'm thrilled to be expecting my first child (a girl!) this coming August. Enough about me..

Penny asked me to talk today about my experiences quilting with a soft, cozy fabric called minky. I love minky, and this was the first time I've used it as a quilt backing... actually, it was my first time using minky ever! Usually I just pet it in the store and keep going.

 

What is minky, you ask? It's a soft, plush polyester microfiber fabric. It comes in lots of colors, with the "dots" you see above and without, and also embossed with designs and graphics. It's great for blankets, toys, and pillows. I've heard a lot about minky shedding, but I didn't have a problem with that. For today's post, I quilted this baby quilt for a friend's new daughter:

 

Here are a few things to think about when quilting with minky:

• It's not hard at all! I was really concerned about shifting, and especially because I pinned it instead of spray-basting, but shifting wasn't an issue. Do use lots of pins, though! Minky is stretchy.
• Treat it as you would any other backing... same quilting processes apply.
• Don't go too fast! I found the places where I let my machine go super fast were the bunchiest places on the back of the quilt (although not so bunchy as to make me want to pick it out and redo it. :) ). These places were also where the little bumps on the minky were squished a lot by the quilting.
• I did use batting, as the minky is pretty sheer (and thin).
• After quilting and trimming the edges of the quilt, the minky behaved just as a cotton backing would. I didn't have a problem with curling or anything while I was trying to bind it. In fact, I bound it on my machine and it worked like a charm!

 

• Minky is very forgiving as a backing. I used white thread on pink  minky, and it pretty much hid all of the stitches.
• Quilting further apart will allow the minky bumps to show more, and quilting close together will squish more bumps.
• Minky is a floppy fabric, so make sure it doesn't get folded under itself while quilting.

 

I absolutely love how the quilt turned out! I'll definitely be using minky again as a quilt backing. It's so soft and cuddly, perfect for a sweet baby.

That's all, folks! I hope this encourages you to give minky a try! And thanks, Penny, for letting me take over your blog today!

 

Comments

[Effie]

Loving the idea of Minky..... even the word makes you want to use it!

[Suzanne]

Minky feels so soft. Thanks for sharing your tips.

[Nancy]

Thanks for sharing. I would never have thought to use Minky for backing. The quilt is sure pretty.

[Tiffany]

I just bought some minky for backing on a baby blanket. Glad to know its not so difficult, I was a little worried! Great post!

[Belinda]

The quilt is beautiful. Thanks for the tips!

[krista - Poppyprint]

Thanks for the post! I've never backed with minky but it would be so dreamy for a baby quilt!

I've pieced with minky and I think that's where the shedding worries come in, but if you want to cut it and piece it, here's a tip. Cut your squares, then throw the pieces into the drier on cool air setting and all of the lint will blow off into your lint trap. That will help the shedding a lot. Then you have to pin the crap out of it and if you use a walking foot, sew slowly and increase your stitch length to about a 3...all helps! Oh yeah, and don't forget to clean out your machine when you're done.

[amandajean]

that is a great quilt, Carmen! thanks for sharing your minky tips. i'm still in the "i'm afraid to use it" camp.

[kelly whitaker]

I've used minky on the back of a child's bed size quilt (small than a twin) and was amazed at how easy it quilted up (using cotton batting). I have a tin lizzie on a frame and was a bit concerned about it getting stretched, but I had absolutely no problems! I've done a lot of home machine quilting too and know it would work out just as well. So if you haven't used it yet, try it on your next child's quilt. I have some brown/blue dotted minky waiting to go on my grandson's quilt this weekend.

[nicke cutler]

I use minky all of the time on baby quilts. I love it and the babies do too!

[amylouwho]

sooooo cute! I love minky - but i usually just make a simple square blanket with it, I've been too intimidated to try quilting it. maybe I'll do that next time! Thanks for sharing!

[Amber]

Love the tute. I have made blankets with it before and really struggles.... sooo strechy.

I thought you might enjoy this link:

http://fancytiger.blogspot.com/2011/04/quilts-for-japan.html

[Jen]

I just did my first one with minky a month or two ago, too. My sister has made several with minky for her boys, and they just LOVE them. I quilted it in stripes, so I agree with your simple quilting idea. Beautiful quilt!

[Allie]

Very pretty - makes me want to touch it!

[Cristin]

Huh.. I would have never THUNK that minky would be easy to back a quilt with! I may have to give it a try... thanks for sharing your experience with us!

[michelle]

I love this quilt and am getting ready to give it a try myself. One question, did you quilt with the minky on the top or bottom when quilting?

[Rylee Kettner]

I just used minky for the first time as a quilt back as well and loved it too! Was just wondering, did you have a hard time binding it? I broke two needles in half trying to get it through, but I also used double fold binding, so I am not sure which part was the problem.

[craftyjules]

I am about to attempt my first cotton top/minky bottom machine quilted quilt. doing some research before I dive in. Thank you!

[trudi]

I am about to bind my minky quilt (both top and bottom). Could I just turn the extra backing over the top and topstitch instead of attaching binding?

[supra kids shoes]

Love those! I enjoy following your posts on facebook and rss!

[Heather Klecker]

I hope someone can answer!!! So I stupidly ironed out the dots on a minky blanket I made.... Is there anyway to get them back?

[Lori Andruchiw]

I have only ever made quilts with minky. But I love the material and pattern of the quilt top. Do you have a name for the pattern?

[Rosie Toonen]

Wow thanks for this blog post! I have just finished a quilt top for my daughter, the quilt is large single bed size. It's all purple aqua and white. I bought lavender minky (plain, no spot) to back it, binding in darkest purple cotton. Think it will look great but I'm a bit nervous. your article has given me confidence, lets see how I go!!
Rosie x