Kinky backs
My trusty cell phone will not allow me to write the word “minky” without autocorrecting to “kinky.” In the last few weeks I’ve been working on a project for my nephew and trying to find 90” Shannon Cuddle for the back. “Cuddle” is what Shannon Fabrics calls their premium minky fabric. As far as I’m concerned, they make the best on the market. I’ve been texting a few shop owner pals, and inevitably instead of “minky” - they get “kinky” at least once in the correspondence. “Do you have any wide kinky backs?” It got me thinking about using minky - the good, the bad, and the ugly about this fun fabric.
Cuddle Back of Max’s Quilt
The good:
Minky is soft. It’s tactile. It’s nice on our skin. It’s warm but not heavy…. It hides the bobbin thread when quilting… It looks really cool when quilted… You can skip batting altogether if you like, or use your favorite batting and both look great... Did I mention how soft it is? Like seriously, really really soft. Shannon makes Luxe Cuddle that looks like luxurious animal skins - chinchilla, rabbit, snow leopard…. All super soft on the back of your quilt; and no animals were harmed in the process.
Minky binding is a lot of fun on a baby quilt. You get all the tactile goodness of minky, and you can do it all by machine. Minky bindings are easy because the fabric masks the bobbin thread and any less-than straight sewing.
Quilted minky can look very expensive; elevating a simple quilt.
The bad:
Minky is stretchy. So, you need to make sure you only have one piece for your back. A “pieced back” is possible but a lot harder with minky, especially on the longarm frame because you have to keep your seam very straight/aligned on both pieces. You also have to keep the nap running in the same direction. It’s a lot easier to just use a big piece for backing; and Shannon makes a 90” wide.
Minky makes a mess when you cut it. However- you can put Glad Press and Seal on the wrong side of the minky where you need to cut, and after cutting just peel most of the mess away. This is a good trick, but there will still be some detritus. I keep my shop vac handy and clean up before I do the next cut. When I’m done cutting, I take it outside for a good shake BEFORE any sewing or quilting is done. After sewing on my domestic machine or my longarm, I always blow out the tiny bits of minky that have become trapped in the bobbin case with an air compressor and then give my studio a good vacuuming. The stuff gets everywhere.
Add Press ‘N Seal to the fuzzy side of the minky before cutting.
Cut using a sharp rotary blade.
Carefully peel away most of the mess. You can reuse your sheet - just cutaway the fuzzy piece.
Some machines struggle to sew/quilt minky. I suggest using a 90/14 stretch needle on your domestic machine when sewing minky to minky. When sewing cotton quilt fabric to minky (like when binding a minky backed quilt with cotton) I use a new 90/14 topstitch needle and put the minky on the bottom (next to the feed dogs). Remember that every machine is different; so be prepared to experiment. My regular needle does the trick on the longarm, but I keep the tension on the back fairly taught (but not stretching). I also suggest lengthening your stitch to at least 3.5 or 4mm for piecing - and 10-12 stitches to the inch for quilting. A walking foot is helpful and you want to use two pins next to each other, or better yet, clips.
The ugly:
Minky is polyester and polyester is plastic. Don’t get me started on how awful polyester is for the earth… I’ve heard they are trying to make more polyesters from recycled sources, but for now - minky, like most polyester, does not biodegrade like a natural fiber and will still be here on the earth long after we are gone. Whenever I use a minky back I buy a carbon offset. Lately I’ve been cleaning my conscience at Terrapass where $7.99 can help reforestation efforts and toxic cleanup programs. If anybody knows of some recycled minky sources, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
