I'm loving all the suggestions and comments
Thanks everyone. I got some batting for this quilt today since I'm probably 85% done with getting the quilt top free! all I have to do is sew on the red edges so its uniform and then I can pin baste it. I'll post some more pics when I have completed that.
The batting I got is I think called warm and natural, its cotton. I always like cotton better than poly, but I'm wondering it says it will shrink 3%. My thought is that if I don't prewash it, when I finish the quilt and wash it for the first time it will get a nice puckery old timey look. Is that a reasonable expectation?
Not really wanting to prewash. Also, based on other threads I've read I got some retroclean and I'm planning to treat the quilt top Friday (we are expecting warm weather) and see if I can't get the colors to brighten up anymore