Did you know..?

There is always more to learn! No matter how long we've been sewing and quilting, how knowledgeable and experienced we think we are, there is always more to learn. Here are two useful tidbits that I picked up recently...

Is there a right and wrong side to batting?  Yes, there IS a difference. Here's the explanation I found online:
Most battings these days are needle punched onto a scrim, a fine polyester mesh whose purpose it is to stabilize the batting and prevent it from migrating into balls of batting over time. The process of needle punching creates a right and wrong side to the batting. If you are having a problem with your batting bearding or poking through the backing fabric when you are quilting it, it may be that you are putting your batting into your quilt upside down. Here's what the APQS website has to say:
"If the batting has been "needle punched" then it has a right and a wrong side. Your quilting needle should penetrate the batting on the right side. Load your quilting frame with the batting's right side facing up. To find the right side of the batting, study the surface carefully. The right side will have more indentations or "dimples" where the manufacturer's needle-punching machine pressed the fibers together. The wrong side of the batting will typically be rougher, with more small "pills" or balls of batting. It will look like a worn sweater that needs a "shave." (Warm and Natural batting's right side is the "dirty side.")"
So now we know!  :)  I always have layered my quilts with the "smoother" side facing up and the rougher side against the backing, "just because", but now I know WHY we should always do it this way... Click here for a Youtube video with good illustrations to watch....

What does the word Mako mean on my Aurifil thread spool? For all you Aurifil lovers, have you noticed the word Mako on your spool? I recently asked Karen N. what this means. Here is her explanation:

"Mako is a cultivar of Egyptian cotton which has an extra long staple, meaning the fibre can be spun into a finer filament than most others, without breaking. Lots of threads are marked Egyptian cotton, but Mako cotton is the cream of the Egyptian crop. Aurifil uses only Mako cotton for their threads.
In the picture is a spool of Aurifil 50 weight and one of another brand of 50 weight. Even though there are 300 more metres of thread on the Aurifil spool, it is a bit smaller in diameter than the other because the strands are finer."

And now you know!