# Stuffing a quilt with fleece (and other things to do with raw fleeces)



## freemotion

Has anyone done this, or has anyone seen it done?  I'm talking about going from raw fleece to a warm, heavy quilt.  My grandmother used to make lovely quilts by taking apart worn woolen mittens, sweaters, and such and carding the wool.  I don't know how she did it, and my dad doesn't remember seeing her do it.  But I have her carders, with bits of colorful fibers stuck deep in the wires.  And I remember her quilts.

I haven't found much information about how to do it....just a couple of paragraphs in Carla Emery's book.  Haven't found anything online yet.

How many fleeces will it take?  How will I prepare them and sew the wool into it so it doesn't shift?

Any links?


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## ksalvagno

I would think you would want to felt the wool to put in the quilt. The people that I know that have made their own quilts and used sheep or alpaca fiber had it made into a felted batting. But they did send it to a local mill to have it done.


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## freemotion

Yeah, when I do a search online, all I find are companies who process it or sell it.  Or blogs about using them.  I'm looking for instructions on how to do it like Grandma did.  If she'd started with raw fleece.

If I felted it, I'd have to do it in sections.  I was thinking this would be a good way.  So do I card it, and lay it out in a square or rectangle, and agitate it in hot water?  Maybe in an under-the-bed storage tote?  Then I can stitch the felted squares onto a sheet to make the batting.

Or I could card it and lay it on the backing all fluffy, tack it down, add a top sheet, and quilt that in its fluffiness.  Then never wash it, wash the cover only.  Or place the rolags on the backing and tack them down.  

It will be a huge job, and I am hoping someone has some information for me so I don't spend a gazillion hours learning hard lessons!


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## ksalvagno

I don't know much about felting but I know soap is involved too. I have heard of getting big plastic sheets, laying the fiber out, soak with hot soapy water, put another layer of plastic over it and then drive back and forth over it with your car. That is probably extreme but then you could do a large felt square instead of small ones, even if you have to sew a couple of them together.

I think the other thing you could do is put the fiber into material the size of the quilt you want and then make your quilt so that you can slip that other "quilt" into it. I guess sort of what you already mentioned. 

I wish I had more experience with that stuff to help you more. I bet if you did a search on "felting" or "felting alpaca fiber" you might find some instructions. I don't know how many sheep people bother with the felting but alpaca people do a lot of felting projects.


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## Beekissed

I'll be interested in what you find out, free.  Justusnak sent me Nelly's fleece and I've yet to decide what to do with it.  One of my patient's has five comforters she made back in the 30s that are filled with milled wool.  They feel very fluffy and are not flat as one would imagine a felted wool would look and feel.

I am going to pick, trim and wash this fleece and card it.  After that I may try to make a lap throw with it by just spreading it out into the quilt area and either stitching it in or tie it in.  

I do know this....the lady has never washed her comforters and they look brand new!  She just hangs them out on the line at night to let them air out and she doesn't expose them to direct sunlight for fear the material will fade.  They look great!  

I may just make a throw pillow with the carded, fluffy fleece. 

How many fleece do you have?


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## freemotion

Just one, from justusnak, too!  But I just replied to an ad on CL for free fleeces, and the lady replied.  I will be in her area in three weeks to massage horses....normally it would be next week, but my clients will be at a show near me so I will see them there.  I don't really want to spend 3 hours in the car for a fleece or two.  Hopefully she will still have something for me by then.

It is amazing how you put something out there, and it comes to you!  I wonder if I will be drowning in fleeces like I was in canning jars?


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## Mea

Please, please,pretty please... if You find information... would You share  !!  I have a carton of washed and carded batts from our sheep's wool that i've had the same idea to make into a quilt.  Just don't know How to proceed !

  We found out rather quickly that some wools do not felt.  ( i always thought...wool...felt...but not so)   Our Suffolk wook will not felt.  Some of the others do pretty good at it.  I Googled  'wool for felting'  and came up with a pretty good site  Can't remember which one ... but there is info out there.

  Hopefully after i retire...( soon)  i will have the time to do these Fun things !


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## freemotion

I found a picture of a lady with a huge quilt frame...the type that hangs from the ceiling and holds the entire quilt stretched out fully.  She had the bottom fabric on the frame, then simply laid the fluffy carded wool all over the fabric, evenly distributed.  Put the top fabric on, then quilted it.

I don't have the space in my house for that...besides, the cats would view it as a nice hammock!  So I have to come up with a different plan.  I may try doing it in smaller sections, on a table, on cheap muslin, tacking the wool in place.  Then piece those together, then put them in a cover and quilt that.  

I may have to experiment on a smaller project....but what?  It won't be washable, so I have to choose something that won't need washing.  Not a lap quilt, not a vest.....but what?


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## ksalvagno

What about a wall hanging? Many people hang quilts up as a decoration.


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## Beekissed

Why won't it be washable?  Do you fear shifting of the wool?  

I'm contemplating making a throw pillow and stuffing with the wool batting.  Then I could just sew decorative covers for it.


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## FarmerDenise

My cousin raised sheep for 4H one year and my grandmother and great grandmother processed the fleece after the sheep were butchered. 
My grandfather had made the carding tools for them. I remember great grandmother doing the carding and she did make a comforter from it. I think she carded it to make it soft and fluffy then she sewed it into the quilt a little bit at a time. I know she did this mostly in her little bedroom and I vaguely remember her sitting and hand sewing the quilt while adding bits of wool as she was sewing. She did not have a frame or anything.


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## freemotion

Cool!  I bet that is how my grandmother did it, too.


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## Lalaith

You can also make a yoyo quilt.  This is where you stuff individual tiny squares with wool and stitch them together.

I recently repaired an old Victorian carriage yoyo quilt which was made out of silk and wool.  A few of the silk squares had shattered so I put in new and stuffed with my wool.  It looks gorgeous!  

As far as doing a flat quilt with wool, you can card it smooth, lay small sections in it flat, and tie each section through the quilt with a small piece of yarn or ribbon.  Then when you quilt through it you can either remove the ties or keep them if you like the look.  It is not going to be as uniform as a complete piece of quilt batting but if you are reasonably careful it won't be lumpy either.

Have fun!


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## freemotion

Thanks!  My fleeces are in the garage waiting for snowdays....hopefully months from now, the fifth day of summer.

Any chances we can have a picture of your restored quilt??

I was also toying with the idea of making a pillow.  Next Joann's coupon I get will go towards pillow ticking.


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## Lalaith

I should have taken pictures!  It turned out really nicely.  It was a black wool backing with hundreds of tiny coloured silk yoyos.  It was later Victorian as the colours were the bright jewel tones you get from the aniline dyes.  A lot of the fabric held up surprisingly well but obviously the heavily salted silks shattered.

The quilt was tied with gold wool yarn and around the border was a simple but well-executed cretan stitch in the same gold wool.


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## freemotion

Oh, did you restore  this quilt for someone else?  You no longer have it to take a picture?  Poo.


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## Lalaith

Correct.  And boy did it hurt to give it away .  

I'm working on a crazy quilt at the moment.  All modern materials (silk and wool) and a few of the squares have animals stuffed with wool.  It will eventually have a thin layer of my wool batting too.

I love working with wool from my sheep- I give the nice fleeces to my spinners and keep the not-so-nice for all kinds of things from garden mulch to quilts to felted wool rugs.

I don't want to derail this thread but I'm curious what other kinds of things people make with their wool.


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## stano40

Try you tube they have a few video's of wool felt making that may help.

http://www.google.com/search?q=maki...refox-a&hs=so6&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official


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## freemotion

Gotta check out that video after chores....the sun is going down!  But first....I changed the title.  Derail away!


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