Island Batik All Puffed Up Puff Quilt Blog Hop

This month's challenge for Island Batik Ambassadors is making a puff or biscuit or pillow (poofy) quilt. I've never made one before and it was an interesting challenge. More about that in a minute.

Rainbow Trip Around the Garden

55" x  55"

Traditional and Original Design

Sandra Starley

February 2023

Fabrics: Garden Delight Collection - every fabric (20 pieces)

Backing: Island Batik Linen  (Naturally Neutrals)

Batting: Hobbs Poly-Down Batting and 

Piecing Thread: Aurifil #50 weight

Quilting Thread: Aurifil #50 weight

80/12 Microtex Needle: Schmetz Quilting Needles 

Pieced and quilted by Sandra Starley 

***Fabrics provided by Island Batik, batting by Hobbs, thread by Aurifil, needles by Schmetz, Strip cutter and Go Cutting Machine by Accuquilt,  

Ollie the Owl enjoying the cozy puff quilt on a snowy morning.

A bit of the design process. I played a bit with the colors and decided the technique and fabrics were perfect for a traditional Trip Around the World. I do love using antique patterns.

I viewed a LOT of videos and tutorials on how to make a puff quilt but did not want to do the method shown most with lots of pieces and tedious sewing. Cutting over a 100 top pieces and 100 plus backing pieces and 300 batting pieces?? No!

And I didn't want to try to tie or quilt a super poofy quilt. 

I found an easier version that did not require making individual puffs or cutting squares of backing and sewing them together. YAY!!! 

I simply cut all the 5 1/2" strips and then squares using my Accuquilt cutter and sewed them together in the regular way. Next I placed the completed top on the backing (without batting).  I then sewed one horizontal line (between rows 5/6) all the way across the top. 

Next step is sewing all the long/vertical seams creating half channels. This means I only needed to reach inside 1/2 of the quilt for stuffing. These were then stuffed with Poly-down polyester barting from Hobbs. I worked in rows - starting with the rows created by my horizontal seam (row 5 and 6). Once they were stuffed, I closed them with another horizontal seam. I kept repeating until all the rows/squares were puffed! 

I loved that I did not need to make each little puff unit. But could I make the process even easier? Yes, I found a trick of creating 3 layers of  batting by strip cutting the batting and folding them into thirds to stuff each puff. So instead of cutting 363 squares, I only cut 121 strips. *I cut the batting in 4 1/2" strips across the width and then subcut to 13 1/2" strips. This meant I got three layers of puffing with a single strip of batting. It does take a lot of batting and I used almost an entire queen sized batting to create this quilt! Thanks again Hobbs Batting!

I used a facing/knife edge binding technique to finish the edges. Always good to experiment and try new things!

Things I learned - 1) puff quilts are kind of fun, 2) don't make your squares any smaller than 5 1/2 cut/ 5" finished or you won't be able to get your arm inside the stuffing channels, 3) a walking foot is a must have for sewing/quilting your puffy rows, and 4) remember to experiment and have FUN!!

Visit the Island Batik Blog each week this month for great giveaways and check out all the other Island Batik Ambassadors and their Puff Quilts.

****The following shops have the Garden Delight Collection now!!! ***
Creekside Quilts OR
EE Schenck Co OR
Hancocks of Paducah KY
Swifty Stitches CA