profannie

Hi everyone,
I'm doing a modern wall hanging quilt for a customer. It`s a modern pattern ("Splash" by Jaybird quilt). It will be heavily quilted. It`s the first time I'm doing a wall hanging and I don't know what to use for the batting. I want to reduce the shrinking to the minimum and I want the quilt to lay flat. What should I use? Wool? Polyester? A silk-cotton blend? I don't think cotton is a good choice. I will do it on my longarm.
Thanks!
Annie

ManiacQuilter2

I prefer Hobbs 80/20 batting but if you want it to be flat, I would suggest W&N. I use that when I am making what I want to look like is a vintage quilt.

EasyPeezy

I use Hobbs Thermore for all my wall hangings.

feline fanatic

I prefer to double bat. It gives great definition to the quilting. I have done it with double wool, wool over cotton, wool over 80/20 and also have used Hobbs Polydown in place of the wool for all of these combinations. In your case I think I would go for wool over cotton or two layers of cotton.

Here are examples of wall hangings I have done this with:
Double wool
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...c-t265846.html

double cotton
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...s-t278354.html

Wool over 80/20 PLUS trapunto work done with W&N
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...g-t256886.html

Wool over cotton
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...c-t260633.html

Annaquilts

Yes, what Feline fanatic posted.

If you use only warm and natural it will not have as much definition and the quilting will not show as well.

profannie

Your quilting is stunning! Beautiful work, and thanks for the exemple.

Jan in VA

I second this. But if you are longarming it you probably want the quilting to be showcased, so you need something with some depth to it, which Thermore, being a very flat poly, does not have.

I really like Feline's wool over wool quilting, less "puffy" to me but still very defined.

Jan in VA (written before I saw Feline fanatic's superb examples)

profannie

Good point. The fabric is all solid and my customer want an elaborate quilting, so having some depth is imperative. Wool is good for that, but I never tought of putting two layers.
In addition, wool doesn't shrink.

Bree123

What about Nature-Fil by Fairfield (50% cotton-50% bamboo rayon)?

I have not ever personally used it for 2 reasons: (1) I'm allergic to bamboo-rayon and (2) I only sell 100% cotton quilts because they are, imho, the best option for babies & kids. I've worked with Fairfield 100% low-loft Poly for quilted home dec items & with Hobb's Heirloom wool for a couple of wall hangings.

If you're not super concerned about your stitches really showing up, Soft & Crafty & Poly-Fil (both by Fairfield) both make good choices. They produce a very smooth quilt with very little loft to it. The one downside with polyester is that it is super lightweight so sometimes you need to either sew weights into the bottom of your quilt or you need to add a second hanging sleeve at the bottom so it hangs perfectly straight at all times. Of course, if you're not fussy about those kind of things, there are LOTS of quilters who happily make do without that.
By choosing a poly-rayon or poly-cotton blend, you get a bit more weight to help pull the quilt straight (gravity) and it does wash better with less risk of the batting getting lumpy or bunched up. Poly batting generally shifts more readily than cotton batting and can't be blocked flat as easily.
Wool is an option if you go with a dense (heavy) wool -- like people who get wool blankets at the Army/Navy Store to use as batting. I love Hobb's Heirloom wool & it definitely doesn't crinkle like cotton, but it has a high loft that is going to be puffier than low-loft poly batts. Wool batting provides excellent definition, but most standard packaged wool batting will be puffy around your stitching lines and, like poly, won't be heavy enough to hang absolutely, perfectly smooth.

It's a lovely pattern, though, and I really can't see you going "wrong" no matter what batting you choose. If it were my quilt, I'd either use Fairfield Cotton Classic (80/20 cotton-poly) or Hobb's Heirloom 100% wool with a bottom sleeve. If I wasn't allergic to rayon, I'd go with Nature-Fil but my poor little hands painfully swell and turn bright red within 10 minutes of working with rayon so it's not an option for me

lfletcher

My favorite batting for wall hangings is Quilter's Dream Cotton Request. It is their thinnest batting with the lowest loft. I love all the Quilter's Dream battings, but for wall hangings, I do like them to be really flat. I used it on a recent show quilt of mine and it won the longarm quilting award so I think it was the right choice.