Prism99

There is a huge difference in how the wool batts we are talking about today are manufactured, compared to a hand carded batt. The manufacturing processes used by QD and Hobbs are relatively new and were developed to improve the stability of wool batts and reduce their tendency to beard. I don't know all the details, but I do know that these kinds of processes are not possible with hand carding.

Most wools that are felted are first woven out of wool thread. The weave holds the threads together while the wool felts.

If you look at wool fibers under the microscope, you will see that the fibers have tons of little "hooks" sticking out. When you wash these fibers with soap and water, and agitate them, the hooks start finding each other. Agitation, in the presence of soap and water, allows all those fibers to slide around each other so the hooks find and snag each other. It is all this "hooking up" that causes wool fabric to shrink. With fully felted wool, you can cut the edges for applique and leave them "raw" because the edges will not ravel -- because all the fibers are hooked together.

A hand carded wool batt, such as your mother made, does not have the woven threads of an army blanket to hold it together. Once inside a quilt, each area inside a quilting space will have an opportunity to move around and shrink itself into a blob when washed with soap, water, and agitation. Agitation is required for felting, so I expect quilts with hand carded wool batts of years gone by were hand washed and probably laid out flat in the shade to try. That's how they could maintain their shape and condition.

This is why brand matters so much in the wool battings that are purchased today. Hobbs and Quilter's Dream both use manufacturing processes that make wool battings handle like cotton battings in terms of washing and drying (and bearding). Not everyone who makes a wool batting uses these newer processes.