How to Join Quilt Batting Pieces Together

Do you have lots of scrap batting?  What can you do with leftover batting?

If you are a quilter, I am sure you have a lot of leftover pieces of quilt batting tucked in a drawer or container in your sewing room.  These small pieces can be used for small projects but the batting scraps can be joined together to use on your next quilt, runner, pillows or wall hanging. 

I am no exception.  After seeing the large bin of batting scraps in my sewing room,  I decided it was time to do something about it.  Small projects would never use it all up.  So, time to sew the pieces together to make larger pieces.

There are several ways of joining batting pieces together in order to use them in a project and today I would like to show you how to sew leftover pieces of batting together using the sewing machines zigzag stitch.

Batting can be confusing.  There are numerous types of batting and a wide range of thicknesses. A common quilter question is how far apart to quilt lines or tie a quilt.  Our  Quilting Density and Batting Tutorial will answer that question.  

Back to the topic of joining scrap batting pieces.  Watch our video on how to join batting pieces together or keep reading this post for a photo tutorial with step-by-step instructions.

Looking for free quilting or sewing patterns to inspire you?  Choose from hundreds on our free quilting and sewing pages.  In addition, we have video sewing and quilting tutorials.

STEP 3: Presser Foot

Attach presser foot to the sewing machine.  To sew batting, I like to use a blind hem presser foot. Sometimes the foot is called an edgestitch foot. The blind hem presser foot has a vertical bar in the middle of the foot.        Regular Presser Foot                                    Hem Stitch/Edgestitch

The two pieces of batting can be placed next to the vertical bar making it easy to feed and sew the batting together.  However, a regular presser foot that accommodates a zigzag stitch can be used.

If you don't have a blind hem/edgestitch presser foot, Amazon has many edgestitch feet at reasonable prices but be sure to purchase one that fits your sewing machine.

STEP 4: Zig-Zag Stitch

Set the sewing machine for a zig-zag stitch.  

Change the stitch width and length to the widest zig-zag stitch and a medium stitch length.  To join the pieces on my Bernina machine, I set the width to 5.5 and length to 2.5.

STEP 5: Sewing

Carefully butt the straight edges of two batting strips together against the vertical bar and under the presser foot.  Begin sewing, zigzagging down the batting pieces catching both pieces as you stitch. You do not want the pieces to overlap.  If using the blind hem presser foot it will not overlap.  Continue sewing the two pieces together.

If you don't have a blind hem foot, carefully butt the straight edges of the two pieces together and center them under the presser foot. Begin sewing the two pieces together with a zigzag stitch.  Try not to let the pieces overlap. Continue stitching until the pieces are sewn together.

STEP 6: Continue Adding Pieces

Continue adding pieces until all the pieces of batting are sewn together.

So that is it! Once all the batting pieces are joined, it’s time to get on with the quilt project.

Happy Quilting!

Thanks for reading this tutorial.  Check out our Quilting Techniques and Tips Board for lots of fun quilting ideas and tutorials.

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