Does anyone have a favorite type of batting? I am lost when it comes to picking one?

I've asked this question for years because there are so many out there and over the past 28 years, I've tried a lot of them. For me, I love the wool battings. It's a bit pricy, but it is so wonderful to hand quilt. I'm sure that there will be a lot of different ideas here, and one will be just what you are looking for. Pam

Hobbs Heirloom Wool, all the way. Enough of a loft to really show off your quilting, specially made so the handquilting needle flows through with ease, and gives a wonderfully light and soft quilt. :-)

my favorite is "quilters Dream" not cheap but so soft

I usually use Warm & Natural (or Warm & White). But I'm still experimenting :lol: :lol:

I use Warm & Natural. Has worked for me every time.

I tried a few weeks ago to hand quilt a table runner with warm and natural and couldn't get my needle to rock. When I have hand quilted in the past I have used poly batting. Sewcrafty are you hand quilting with the warm and natural?

A lot depends on the finished look I am going for and who will be caring for the quilt. I still like poly for baby or children's quilts as it launders well and is lighter. I also like poly if I want the quilting to really pop. Now that they make the thinner poly it is easy to work with by hand. For quilts that may be around forever or a client's special quilt I use Dream Cotton the thinest they make. It allows me to make the smallest stitches. It is all a matter of personal taste and how much money you have to spend.

I use a low loft poly and really like it. I tried a cotton batting once and decided never again. The needle just didn't move through it right. I fought it for an entire full sized quilt. Looks like a lot of you use warm and natural. I may try it on something small to see if I like it.

I don't like to hand quilt through Warm n Natural because it is needepunched through scrim. This makes it difficult to push the needle through.

For an all-cotton batting, I like Quilter's Dream. It is needlepunched, but not through scrim, which makes it a very stable and uniform batt. I took a class from a famous quiltmaker who liked Fairfield's bonded all-cotton batting for quilting, but she said it needed to be soaked first for hand quilting because otherwise the bonding agents make the needle stick.

Many traditional cotton battings are difficult to hand quilt because the natural oil in the cotton creates drag on the needle, they are not uniform in depth, and some even have little pieces of the cotton seeds in them. I hand-quilted through my favorite machine quilting batting, Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon, exactly once; never again!

Wool and silk battings are supposed to be the easiest to hand quilt -- like quilting through butter. You can use these battings even when the top and backing are all cotton. Wool batts used to have bearding problems, but the newer ones are bonded and processed to prevent bearding.

Low-loft polyester battings are also supposed to be good for hand quilting.

I know many use warm and natural, but is not your best for handquilting. In fact Jean Brown says not to use warm and natural. Actually polyesters or wool are the best, but if you have to wash the wool, it can be a real problem. But I just recently started using Tucany cotton, it is the softest cotton batting I have seen, it is a new line by hobbs and I love it. They also have it in polyester, wool and silk. I get mine from the Batty lady. She has it on sale right now. This is her site and she has a lot of info and will email you back if you have questions. http://www.battylady.com/

I appreciate all the replies. I am keeping a little running total of all the answers in the comments. It looks like I wasn't the only one who was confused with all the choices.
Thank you,
Harry

So far...
Wool +4
low loft poly +4
Quilters dream +3
Warm and Nat +2 and -3 (that's 3 negative comments too) so it's a negative 1.
Silk +1
Hobbs Tuscany cotton +1

Thank you,
Harry

I love warm and natural

I hand quilt and I prefer Warm and Natural. I preshrink it first by soaking it in HOT water in the washer. I don't let the machine agitate but after soaking it for a hour or so, I spin it out and then dry it in the dryer. It is much softer and needles easier.

Hobbs has a Poly Down I like. Doesn't beard and is easy to rock your needle. It is very reasonable in price.

I tired the fusible last night on a wall hanging and I really like it. No pinning no spraying.
And it worked just like the they said it would. You can pull it off and reiron if necessary.

Will this shrink when put in the dryer or is it "pre-shrunk"? I know wool hates dryers, but if it's already felted sometimes it doesn't shrink, just curious as I can't imagine not drying my quilts in the dryer.

Rachel

I've always been scared to try the wool batts as I'm worried about the shrinkage. The last 3 I've quilted I used cotton/bamboo mixture. It's cream colored and looks like a layer of a blanket instead of lofted batting. It was a dream to quilt through and I loved the look of the quilt when I was done.

yes the wool will shrink.

I started hand quilting with Hobbs 80-20 and really liked it. I have tried many others and love the wool. Depends on who it is for. Way to hot for Oklahoma. Daughter lives in Branson, MO and she love it in her trailer and house. Right now I am doing a queen size with Bamboo batting. I like it, but not sure it is worth the price. Love the Dream for wall hangings. I think everyone has thier favorite. The girl who long arms for me uses the Hobbs 80-20.

I have used wool a lot and never had a shrinking problem. Before I started using it I contacted everyone I could that manufactured and/or sold the wool batting. Got a lot of information. If ever in doubt, call or contact the folks who make it, they are more than happy to help out.

Here is some info on all types of batts. The one and only time I used wool. It quilted great. But when washed even if laid flat it did shrink up a little. Just makes the quilt look older. But it did shrink, maybe just a little more than cotton, which is usually 3-5%http://quilting.suite101.com/article..._quilt_batting

Well,Harry, I have been quilting for some 40 odd years.I started by pulling my cotton with the old timey hand bats.I have always been on a very limited budget. Enough back ground huh? I find that Wal Mart battings,I think it is Fairfield but now sure in the high loft as I like that effect, alos Poly Not cotton or wool. works best for me and the look that I like. You will just have to experiment and find the one that you like the best for your hand. Jolo

That was recently addressed at one of our quilt guild meetings. The presenter prefers to use polyester batting when she's hand quilting and uses warm and natural when she is machine quilting. She says both high and low loft are fine and a matter of preference.

In my chapter, I am the ONLY odd ball who uses polyester and until that meeting they were trying hard to convince me that I should be using warm and natural or at least a 100% cotton batting. Several are now working with the new battings that have come out this past year and love them. I prefer a puffy look with my quilts so I use polyester but I sure can see where machine quilting on warm and natural would be a whole lot easier than using the polyester batting.

After you review what is said here, please share what you've decided to use. A lot of it honestly is personal preference and what each individual prefers to work with.
Patty

I like to use Hobbs cotton.

Could someone elaborate on the issue of wool batting with regard to washing? Do you soak wool batting before using it? What happens if you wash a quilt that has wool batting?

Thanks!

Wow...lots of info in this article. I am now leaning toward cotton.

I find easiest is Thermore I think that's how you spell it. VERY THIN but very warm. I only hand quilt and there's nothing like it. W & N is very heavy and if you are doing a queen size you'll never stand up straight again

I only use Warm and Natural and I only hand quilt. I love it. The wool sounds nice but I am allergic.

Another Warm and Natural user here. I only hand quilt and have used it in 2 queen size, 2 full size and many other sizes without any problems.

FOR hand quilting-Wool is no problem to wash. Just be sure to make sure it is pre-shrunk and washable. Nothing like it for hand quilting.
Poly is not bad either. Warm & Natural is like fighting the quilt.

what happened to Thermore? that's not on your list

I always use the low loft polyester I get at Walmart.( the ones that still sell it) I never have any trouble and the quilts can be washed often.

My favorite bat is hobbs 80/20, it's wonderful to quilt thru.

I am going revise the list with my 11 year old daughter. She is working with charts and graphs this week in school. It will be a fun lesson for the both of us.
Harry

Woody1229, I use wool for most of my quilts because of the ease of quilting by hand, it breaths, it lays very nice on the bed.
When I start any quilt project, for some reason, I wash everything. I wash the materials for the top, the batting and the backing. I put the batting in the washer, fill it with water, let is soak for a bit, then drain the water. I don't put it in the dryer, but lay it across my cloths line until it dries. The newer products are far and away better then they used to be.
If you are a hand quilter, you should try a small project with wool before investing in a large quilt.
Good luck, Pam

I found this information about different types of Hobbs brand batting online that may be helpful:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/articles...-batting.shtml

If you click on the report in this article, you get a lot of specific information about each type of batting. This report says that the Hobbs Heirloom wool batting has *no* shrinkage! It also says to be careful if you are using it with very dark fabrics. The bonding process is supposed to inhibit bearding, but with this caution you know that it can still beard through some types of dark fabric.

My favorite is also the Hobbs 80cotton/20poly. It quilts easily hand or machine, drapes nicely and isn't as heavy as warm & natural. I have used w&n on several quilts, but it is a little more difficult to hand quilt thru and feels lots heavier when laying on you. I have used polys also, but don't like the bearding from 100% poly. Don't use wool - allergic. Haven't tried bamboo, but with their hollow fibers that grab & hold water, don't expect I will (just don't have triple the time and space to dry a quilt because of bamboo batting).

Well I'm a newbie so I may change my mind with time. But for me I want high loft that's really going to show the quilting. So I go with a high poly. I hand quilt but I don't do it the normal way. I pretty much go down through the material then move my hand underneath and grab the needle then shove it through to the top. Takes forever. But I love the way it looks so that's what I do. I can't work the inbetweens for anything. I can't even see the eyes to thread them.

So hi-loft poly is the one for me for quilts.