I love Hobbs Heirloom Wool for hand-quilting, and have lots of it. I want to start practicing FMQ on my domestic machine and am wondering whether my batting would work for FMQ as well?

What do you use, what do you recommend?

More generally speaking (I'm in the UK and might not be able to buy the same brands...), what should I be looking for/avoiding in choosing FMQ batting?

I think the wool would be fine.

In general, for FMQ, you want a low loft to medium loft batting. The lower the loft, the less chance of puckering. Also, the lower the loft, the easier it is to fit half of a large quilt under the arm of the machine.

I only use warm and natural for everything.

Me too. I bought a King Size piece of washable wool by Hobbs at the Road to California show to do our bed quilt. I haven't made it yet, but am looking forward to trying the wool. We are in CA, so don't need really heavy quilts. I heard that wool is quite a bit warmer than Cotton, so hoping that one quilt will do well for us when the weather is mild.

Oh, and I quilt on a NewJoy frame with a BabyLock Quilters Choice Pro machine (short arm?). That's why I use W&N...it quilts wonderfully.

Hello pretend English lady! How are you doing? :mrgreen: :lol: This is great for MQ and it's a UK stockist too! http://www.cottonpatch.co.uk/acatalo...ng_Fibres.html

The one at the bottom of the page - Quilter's Dream Blend. It's similar to Warm and Natural but a little softer and less flecky bits in it. :-D

I've used all the following for FMQ with good results
Quilters Dream Dreamblend/Polyselect/Dream Puff
Warm & Natural
Hobbs 80/20
All are available from Cotton Patch, and best price I've found too.

Thank you for all your input guys, I much appreciate it!

Thank you, Prism99. Aw, puckering!

Heirloom Wool is medium. I tried a couple of low-loft battings for my hand-quilting and found the result really disappointing, it showed so little that it hardly seemed worth all the effort. But low-loft might be a good choice for me to start practicing MQ with.... hm. Much to ponder!




:-)

Ah, madame la faux-Francaise! Comment allez-vous? :mrgreen: :lol: I'm doing fine, just spending wy too much time here. My eyes are crossed and my brain is sore, there's so much to learn here! And it's too much fun to stop...

Thank you for the suggestion and the link. Have to say the price looks attractive, too - so thank you for that, k3n and thank you katrine as well! Might want to save my precious wool for when I can actually mq something that can be looked at without eyes hurting.

What do you mean by flecky bits? I remember when I did a sample with bamboo, my needle kept hitting gnarly hard-to-pierce bits, is that what you mean? I'd have thought that wouldn't bother a machine but what do I know.

Warm and Natural is fine - didn't mean to 'diss' it! I just think that the Dream Blend is softer whilst still being as stable. Neither of them go out of shape round the edges if you're a bit rough with them (:mrgreen:) like the Hobbs can. The flecky bits are those little brownish lumpy things, and no they don't bother the machine. I should also say that it was actually Katrine who turned me on to the Dream Blend! Where she leads, I follow!

Et je vais très bien merci, mais tu peux tutoyer! :lol:

I meant to say also that you can quilt Dreamblend up to 12" apart if you wish, so if you dont want to do very close quilting.....and shrinkage is less than 1%.

I am a machine quilter and LOVE the wool batts, the needle flows so smoothly, it is just a joy to work with hand or machine...you will love it!!!

Great. It sounds as if I can safely experiment a bit! Thanks everyone.

ckcowl: Will definitely keep the wool in mind not for my first practice runs but for later. I do love the feel of it and warmth is nice in this damp climate.

Katrine and k3n: So you are both fake are you? ;) I saw that cottonpatch also sell Quilters Dream in pure cotton, do you have an opinion on those? I have a slight preference for natural materials when possible, but of course it depends on what they do...

Oh yes, pretend Frenchies, that's us! :mrgreen:

I have no experience of the QD pure cotton and none on my little chart I made with a square of each wadding I ever used and the info at the side about shrinkage, quilting distance etc... Yes, I know I'm a weirdo! Maybe Katrine does - if she doesn't see this I'll ask her!

I would guess though that it's the 30 percent man made element that stabilises it. The Blend doesn't 'feel' fake at all but really soft and lovely. I think the manmade fibres these days are microfibre and totally unlike the old 'pot scrubber' poly waddings of old. My 5 year old daughter calls wadding 'fluffy stuff'! :-D

Wow, you are organised!! I should have done a chart when I did test squares with my handquilting.

I still have some batting squares from a sample pack lying around, by now I can't even tell anymore which square belongs to which description on the printed list the shop sent... Except for a pale green one, which I remember was made from recycled plastic. Eco, but doesn't feel like microfibre to me! Will come in handy for the first squares I'll play on with my machine, but after that I will want something I actually like to touch and work with.

I never fancied that recycled plastic one myself... :shock:

I have freeMQ with all kinds of bats and the woolis great to but 90 % of the time for past years I only use Warm n Natural's. I like the feel and I can split it when I want a reall fine batting in a vest or jacket... you will do fine with the wool on the machine

Oh I'm not a fake! Been here long enough now to have a french brain and absolutely no wish to go back - well only to buy batting!
I have used QD pure cotton and it is very good - but dont dismiss Dreamblend - it is specifically for machine quilting, is lovely and soft and quilts up beautifully.