Thread: Handquilters - Which do you prefer Hobbs 80/20 or Hobbs Cotton?

When I quilt my finished tops myself, I hand quilt. I've traditionally used Hobbs 80/20 for gifts and wool for myself or very special quilts. I'm wondering if there is a benefit to using the Hobbs 100% cotton instead of the 80/20?

What would be features you think are better about one or the other?

I probably won't be much help here. I use W&N 100% cotton. I personally prefer natural fibers particularly in quilts. And everyone that I've gifted the quilts to comment on how warm they are. I'd love to try silk batting at some point but it's really spendy and not locally available. Since I have a whole roll of W&N, it will probably be a while before I make my way to the silk. Have never tried Hobbs batting. Heard good things about it, just not readily available locally.

Hobbs Tuscany Wool batting is my preference. However, it doesn't come in white or at least I haven't been able to find it so for my white background tops I go to cotton. I think I used Dream Cotton. I have used silk, but for the money I much prefer wool. I have never used 80/20 in any brand. Whatever you choose, it depends on how closely you are going to be quilting and what drape you want. I suspect the 80/20 won't shrink as much as the all cotton. I bought a bundle of batting squares from Harriet Hargrave's web store. There are 14 or 16 (I think) 12 x 12 squares of different bats. I usually take one of those samples and hand quilt a small area to see how well that particular bat needles. I think it's Fairfield cotton that is absolutely sumptuous, but it doesn't come in large sizes. The only bat that I will never use again is polyester. I used Dream Poly in the quilt I'm working on now because I didn't want any shrinkage, but the bearding is bad and the drape is stiff.