Thread: Okay, now I feel stupid!

Scrim -- a thin sheet of synthetic material that lends stability to the batt. Such batts are said to be "needlepunched" to make hand needling easier.

Scrim is what makes the batting catch on fire when used in microwaves. Batts labeled 100% cotton usually have scrim. Only if the words no scrim is on the bolt or package is the batt scrim free.

Originally Posted by nanna-up-north

Thanks, all
Well, I guess I'm going to have to pay more attention when I buy batting. I do some hand quilting (so I shouldn't use skrim) and some machine quilting (so I can use skrim). I do know that I don't like hand quilting with warm and natural. I've done it and it is much stiffer and harder to make the tiny little stitches that I like on hand quilted items. Nanna

No, wait! Hobbs cotton battings (some at least) have scrim and I handquilted on those for years, with NO problems before I switched to wool from Quilters Dream or Hobbs. With Warm and Natural, it isn't the scrim that likely bothers you but the thickness and the denseness of the batt itself that's a problem in handquilting.

Scrim serves the purpose of keeping the fibers from migrating, from clumping, from wadding together after a quilt is washed repeatedly -- like you see in many much older quilts where maybe the battings might have been hand carded, made at home, or were made by Mountain Mist which did not have scrim and needed to be "quilted to death".

Scrim allows you to quilt further apart than you can with cotton batts that are not scrimmed. Most manufacturers, like Hobbs or QD use the scrim sparingly and it doesn't seem to affect the weight or density for handquilting. And if it does, return it or advise the company!

Jan in VA