Declutter Challenge 2026 - Day 18 - Batting

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Today we are dealing with your batting and your batting scraps.

STEP 1

Set your timer. This might be a busy day if this is your first year, or it might be an easy year. 

STEP 2

Define your capacity. Today’s question is:

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How Much Space Do I Want This To Occupy?

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And your answer should be:

• a combination of the capacity you have to store batting scraps

• with the number of projects that you actually intend to make

• they can take up a lot of square footage in your sewing space

• we are dealing with batting in all sorts of sizes and type.

• And batting scraps are made with every quilt you make. So you will always have some

One of the top items you can make is often called Frankenbatting. It’s splicing the pieces together to make a bigger piece that you can use in your quilting. The major point to make is that you should not mix up your batting types as they shrink at different rates. 

So from your list of UFO’s and WIP’s do you have projects that will need batting? Note their finished sizes. When you have a moment you can splice your batting pieces together to get that project done. This is a WIN WIN WIN activity. You don’t need to purchase extra batting. It saves you a ton of money. And you’ll get to recover a oodles of space.

STEP 3

Declutter. Remember, you get batting scraps with every quilt. So if you are not consuming them, they will quickly overflow and take over. 

When I have any small pieces I cut them into to tiny pieces to make a dog bed.

Now you may have other kinds of batting. There is thermal batting, upholstery foam and wadding. You may also have other kinds of stuffing like polyfill or silicone beads, wool rovings or crushed walnuts and more. When was the last time you used any of it? Do you see yourself making projects that use them any time soon? 

STEP 4

Get it out of your space. Find that quilter who likes to make dog and cat beds for the local Humane Society otherwise some of this, unfortunately, will end up in the land fill. 

STEP 5

Your turn to share. How many bags of batting scraps do you have? How are you going to use them up in the coming year? Tell me about your plans in the comments, in the Facebook group or on Instagram with this year’s hashtag, #declutterchallenge2026.

Here are two videos I recommend for today:

Take care See you tomorrow for day 19.