I absolutely have fallen in love with quilting. This forum is the most wonderful haven for me to come to and trust me I am here reading and looking every day. However I am still a beginner. Is it the batting? My question is simple how do I make the end result fluffy, and more squishy for lack of a better word instead of stiff...? All suggestions and thoughts are welcome! Merry Christmas and Blessings to all!

High loft batting with less quilting.

yes - what leatheflea said......

The same as others are saying, 'high loft polyester batting and less quilting'. Cotton and cotton/poly blend will not give you a soft, fluffy look, especially if there is lots of quilting. Use a high loft polyester, it is sometimes hard to find a high loft and if you can't find high loft layer 2 thinner ones. Also, if you tie rather than quilt it gives the batting more room to expand. But some people don't like to tie, in that case use the least amount of quilting recomended for that batting.

Longarm

Ditto

Check the quilting requirements for the batting, you want to buy some with the least amount required :D:D:D

Completely agree !!

Are you looking for the commercial comforter type of look and feel? That is a more modern look and, as others have indicated, high loft polyester batting with minimal quilting will give that effect.

Traditional quilts have a look and feel that is quite different from the above. Traditionally the batting was 100% cotton. This kind of quilt is thin by today's "comforter" standard; however, this kind of batting becomes softer with every wash so traditional quilts end up being very soft and "comforting" in a different way. They would not be stiff. Things that can make a quilt stiffer are lots of close machine quilting (especially with regular thread instead of fine thread) and battings that are needlepunched through scrim (such as Warm n Natural).

I found your reply to be very helpful to me. Thank you!

If you have to have cotton batting then I would hand quilt. Machine quilting seems too stiff for me which could have something to do with tension and the way the stitches are formed.