5 Step Guide To A Perfect Minky Quilt Back [Tutorial]

Notoriously difficult many quilters and sewists fear to work with minky.

Fear no more here's my super easy, step by step guide to a perfect minky quilt back.

Hi everyone, my 5 Step Guide to A Perfect Minky Quilt Back is proving extremely popular across the internet and my tip list is being printed off and shared.  Obviously, as a teacher, I'm always delighted to share my knowledge with everyone and 'spread the word' and I'd love you to do the same for me - tell everyone that you found the info right here and suggest that they visit my blog too. You'll notice that sadly I've also added ugly watermarks to the crucial images.  Thanks for your support in advance - Chris :D 

Disclosure: 

This post contains Amazon and Craftsy affiliate links for which I am paid commission on click-through purchases (at no additional cost to you). Otherwise, no payment or commission is received for click-throughs to shared links; the post is for informational purposes only and all opinions are my own. 

Now let's slow things down and do the same again in pictures:

5 Step Guide To A Perfect Minky Quilt Back

NEVER IRON MINKY, IT WILL MELT!!!

step one

Lay your minky out on a flat surface.

You might want to tape your minky to the surface - I didn't and mine's laid on a slippy glass table top, that part is up to you.  You'll notice that my table is also smaller than the quilt - I find that spray basting a quilt in halves or even quarters allows me to baste quilts that are larger than my space would allow with a pin basting method and I can slide the quilt sections away from the table as I finish basting them and move to the next section.

step two

Lay your quilt top on top of the minky, wrong sides together.

I didn't cut the minky to size, that is too tricky at this stage so we'll do it later. Instead, I placed the quilt top at the top corner of the whole minky sheet.

step three

Fold half of your quilt top back on itself, right sides together and spray baste visible minky on the wrong side.

don't go crazy with the spray baste, it's just not necessary - read my spray basting notes below for guidance.

step four

Unfold quilt top + place it back on spray basted minky, smoothing out wrinkles.  

Spray baste is repositionable so lift and relay if you have folds or creases.

As you can see in the pic, I hold the quilt top high in the area and smooth it back into place on the minky bit by bit and making sure each section is wrinkle free before lowering the next section of the top.  I also work from the centre out to the sides easing the fabric as I go.

step five

Fold the still unbasted half of your quilt top back on itself and repeat Steps Three and Four.

This is easy, the quilt top will only lift back from the section you haven't already spray basted - the rest of it is glued!  I marked where the bottom corners of the quilt top lay on the minky backing (you can see one of the marks in the bottom right of the pic below).   This gave me a visual to spray baste up to rather than spraying the whole of the remaining minky sheet.

The two layers are completely glued together and won't move while you quilt or hand-tie or bind the quilt.

Unless you've been way too sparing with the spray baste, you really can throw the basted quilt around now - it's like it's one piece of fabric, not two layers.

NEVER IRON MINKY, IT WILL MELT!!!

spray basting

In my classes, I've seen students easily use a giant can of 505 basting spray to baste one baby quilt - this is complete overkill and I guess if people use spray baste in these quantities then probably they do have problems with fumes unless the room is extremely well ventilated.

When I spray baste, I can baste 3-8 quilts (depending on size) from one spray can.  I spray the quilt layers very lightly in a large sweeping motion from a 1'-2' (30-60 cm) distance - it takes me seconds to complete a quilt sandwich layer.  You can't see the spray on the layer surface and it doesn't create a sticky mess on the surrounding floor, furniture or wall (yes, I sometimes baste quilts by taping them to the wall too!).  There's never any fumes either, I just don't use enough of it for it to be a problem.  Next time you spray baste try moving your hand back a bit from the quilt and spraying faster and for a shorter time, I think you'll be quite surprised to discover you need hardly any of the spray baste for the sandwich layers to stick together.  Think of all the money you'll save too!!!

If you do experience sticky residue on your surfaces you should be able to wipe these away with a damp, lint-free cloth, stubborn stickiness may need a little detergent to help release it.  Some people lay down newspaper sheets before spray basting but the thought of print transfer makes me a little nervous.  Another option is to lay your quilt out on a shower curtain bought cheaply from the dollar/pound store and you'll be able to reuse it too.  

505 is my preferred spray baste brand and this is where I purchase it. Note: I'm an Amazon affiliate and will receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) on any purchase you make following this link.

cutting minky

Minky is also known for stretching and changing shape as you move it and this makes it difficult to cut.  Now that the minky is glued to the quilt top the quilt top and spray baste will stabilise the minky and force it to retain its correct shape.

Don't be frightened now to handle your quilt.

Use scissors or a rotary cutter to cut the excess away from your quilt top.

Overlock or zig-zag around the quilt top edge to secure and this will also reduce further shedding of minky fur.  I recommend you use a walking foot or dual feed to sew the quilt as this can better manage the fabric bulk and slippy surface texture.

Quilt or hand-tie and bind your quilt in the normal way, my preferred method is hand-tying as personally, I don't like the appearance of trapped minky fur under machine quilting stitches.  Click the image below for my How To Hand Tie A Quilt tute.

 cleaning up after working with minky

While you are working with minky I recommend regular clean ups of your work surfaces and floor and clothes - this fabric sheds fur like crazy.  I have a cordless handheld vacuum cleaner that's perfect for the job.  A sticky lint roller or sticking tape wrapped around your hand will help clean your clothes.

If you've used your cutting mat you'll probably find minky fur trapped within cuts in the mat - follow my tute for cleaning your cutting mat to restore your mat's surface (click image link below).

Finally, lift the sole plate on your sewing machine and give it a good clean - there's bound to be lots of minky fur and lint hiding under there and your machine deserves a bit of TLC!

and always remember

NEVER IRON MINKY, IT WILL MELT!!!

so what is minky?

it's a synthetic polyester fibre, fade resistant and super soft, it will remain super soft for its lifetime if laundered correctly.  It is available in many nap and pile lengths and in different types of 'fur' and colours.  Here's a pic of some minkies I have in my stash, I've shown both sides of the white minky so you can see how the back is made too.

I'm often asked about the minkies I use so here are links to my two favourite minkies to work with in ivory and white (they are the two on the far left above).  Note: I'm an Amazon affiliate and will receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) on any purchase you make following this link.

   

is it safe to use minky for baby quilts?

as it's a synthetic fibre, minky isn't breathable and, as babies can't regulate their body temperature well, it's certainly not the best choice for a newborn.  Aside from a risk of suffocation babies and adults can develop sweats and rashes.  Minky isn't a good choice around naked flames or heat either as the fibres will melt.

how to launder minky

cool wash with detergent.  DO NOT use fabric softener as, bizarrely, this will take the life and softness out of the fabric and no bleach either.  Dry on a low heat or line dry - remember direct heat will melt minky.

is it safe to use spray baste for baby quilts?

I'm not able to say it's safe but if you want to use basting spray then use it minimally (see my notes above about over spraying) and wash the quilt at least once before gifting/using and this should remove temporary basting spray.  My preferred spray is 505.

Related Posts:

Love it or hate it, I've shared the minky facts, now it's up to you but don't forget

NEVER IRON MINKY, IT WILL MELT!!!

5 Step Guide To A Perfect Minky Quilt Back

Do you have any tips for working with minky or experiences to share about minky?  We'd love to hear, tell us in the comments :D

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Disclosure: 

This post contains Amazon and Craftsy affiliate links for which I am paid compensation on click-through purchases (at no additional cost to you). Otherwise, the post is for informational purposes only and all opinions are my own.

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Uncredited reproduction of all content, text and images on this site is prohibited. All content, text and images must be credited to Chris Dodsley @made by ChrissieD and include a link back to this site.

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