Today is a very Happy- Blessed day for me & my hubbie. We celebrate 50 yrs. today. He is such a wonderful guy, he bought me 10 alpaca's for our anniversary. We just built our dream log home on 60 acres & I have always wanted alpacas, so he bought me 10. I have several things made out of their wool & now I will get to my question.
Can I use the wool when we shear them for batting in my quilts? It is such a soft fiber (of course I would wash it) & was wondering why I couldn't use it. I think it would make a really warm quilt, wouldn't you? If I could layer it in long pieces, I think it would work. Anyone for any suggestions???
Donna, The Rustic Quilter

You would want to make a batting of the wool that's all "stuck" together or carded out together. Laying pieces on top of each other is just going to shift and create large lumps and empty or uneven areas. Alpaca wool is some of the nicest wool! I'd love to experiment with a batting from it, but try to find some way to get a large, carded piece.

I don't why you couldn't use it for quilting. A quick google search turns up a couple of sources for it.

it would be lovely warm in the winter.

You could definitely use it as a quilt batting. I think, the most difficult part will be making a batt with a consistent thickness. And you may need to quilt it at a closer interval to prevent shifting. But definitely doable.

I would LOVE to see alpaca wool batting become a viable, more available product. Lotsa alpaca farmers (herders?) in the US. The yarn is dreamy. Maybe loose wool for trapunto? You could be the one to bring this idea to fruition!

Sounds interesting! Keep us posted on what you do decide! :)

Our Red Hat Group had the pleasure of visiting an alpaca ranch and oh what a delightful experience.

You are going to love being an alpaca mama! They are such docile, sweet creatures.

We saw the fleece and I wondered at the time if it could be used for batting, too. Think about it, we have wool batting from sheep. Why not alpacas?

How about using it in a "Biscuit" quilt? That is where you make the little pockets and stuff each one. This would allow you to use pieces of the fiber rather than trying to lay it out like a batt. Try the search on the board for biscuits quilt, I've seen a couple here?

There was a thread about batting pieces that I read yesterday(?) and there was a link to an article that mentioned using alpaca. I did not have any details on preparing the fibers, but it can be done. I'll see if I can find the link.

Here it is: http://www.quilting-tidbits.com/quilt-batting.html

Alpacas are really neat animals. A friend of mine has 2 of them.

Also check this out:

http://www.all-about-quilts.com/alpaca-batting.html

There are quite a few sites that sell alpaca batting.

OH, and excuse me for almost forgetting...CONGRATULATIONS! on your anniversary. We will have our 50th next year.