hsweany

What is the most economical way to buy batting? I like the 80/20 kind and have just bought it in a bag. Is it cheaper to buy off the bolt? I know we have talked about the price of fabric, but I was shocked at how much a bag of batting cost! Thanks for thoughts.

Tweety2911

I wait for Joann's to have their 50% off, or use coupons to buy it off the bolt. Less wrinkling and a great deal on sale or with coupons. Best time to stock up!

ckcowl

i browse lots of different shops/sources & wait for sales- sometimes i can buy a 40yard bolt for a great price- sometimes i take advantage of good sales of pre-packaged batts...i use a wide variety of batts, cottons, blends, wools, poly's, so i'm always watching the sales- free shipping opportunities to stock up..

liont

Once in a while, Joanns has $10 promo for Queen sized Warm and Natural cotton. I will do a major stock up. 50% coupons are the next best deal.
I don't buy full price

Pat625

Whenever I have a coupon I am not using for fabric or another thing I need, I use it for batting..I always buy the biggest, so I can use the extra for small projects

Scissor Queen

A roll of batting tends to be a pain to store. I buy batting by the case from Hancocks of Paducah.

dunster

I generally buy batting by the bolt. Finding the best deal can be very confusing, because of the different sizes, discounts, sales, etc. Recently I made a spreadsheet of various prices that I could find for different battings made by the Warm Co. (Warm and Natural, Warm and Bright, Warm Blend, etc.) at JoAnn's and other stores. I normalized all the prices so that I was comparing apples to apples as far as a square yard of batting went. What really surprised me was that the 45" W&N at JoAnn's was a **LOT** cheaper than the 90", even after you factored in that it was only half as wide. That means that if you wind up piecing your batting anyway, you're better off buying the 45". At that time, the 90" roll (40 yards) was $429.99 and the 45" roll (also 40 yards) was $159.99. That means for the same amount of batting you could buy 2 rolls of 45" for $319.98 (instead of one roll of 90" for $429.99) and save $110.01. (Of course I would be using a coupon on either deal, or waiting for it to be on sale, but you get the idea.)

Sometimes it's worth it to me not to have to piece the batting. But if I'm making a larger quilt I have to piece it anyway, and if I'm making a small one I try to use up the scraps, so I almost always wind up piecing it to some extent. I think if you can find a sale on the exact size batting that you need, that is probably the most economical way to go, but how often is the exact size that you need in a package? That means you wind up with leftovers, and I find I can use the leftovers from the roll more efficiently than the leftovers from a packaged batt.

Silver Needle

I have always purchased batting by the bolt as I am a professional long arm quilter. If you select a width as wide as the longest quilt you are likely to need it for you can cut the width off the bolt instead of the length. Also any leftovers can be put together for baby quilts etc. That is why I order all 122" bolts to have on hand for my clients. I sell it by the linear inch and they are purchasing for the narrowest part of their quilt. I keep the extra as compensation for storing the batting. I've read that the quality of batting on bolts is better but don't know if that holds true.

burchquilts

I use the 40% coupon & buy a bolt at Hancock's or Hobby Lobby.