Batting for baby quilts?
 

I know there will be lots of opinions.

I will be making a baby quilt for my grandson who is arriving next March. Who am I kidding, I will probably be making a couple quilts for him.

One will be a pieced cotton top with a minkee type back. I have made quilts with Minkee in the past and not used batting, and minimal quilting, but as this quilt will get lots of washing, I think I need to add batting, at least a layer of flannel and much more quilting. I want the quilt to be flexible and cuddly. To be used in the stroller, so not too big, but warm and easily washable.

Quilt number two will be for tummy time. I want it to be fairly thick, likely flannel backing and perhaps 2 layers of batting.

There may well be a quilt number 3, but not for a little while.

I will be giving Mum the first quilt around Christmas, depending on how it is received, I will make the other one and ask her about accessories she may want. Burp cloths, receiving blankets etc.

I will be quilting on my HQ 16. Either simple free motion or ruler work.

I mainly use project fleece or polyester batting in crib size. I get it from Walmart. I mainly donate quilts and buy everything myself.

I found this really interesting article when I was doing some research for a Quilt of Valour I am working on. It made me really step back and think. I always thought polyester would be great for kids, since it's so washable. This article has me thinking twice about even using 80/20 on my Quilt of Valour.

https://www.quiltsofvalour.ca/pdfs/batting_article.pdf

When doing burn tests on "quilting weight" woven fabrics - the residue from fabrics that contained polyester stayed very hot much longer than the ash from cotton fabrics.

Plus the poly fabrics burned with black smoke and the smoke was acrid compared to the smoke from 100% cotton fabrics.

I use cotton/polyester 80/20 in my baby quilts. I quilt them about 1.5" apart . They wash up and dry in the dryer well, and after a few washes they get nice and cuddly.

80/20 cotton/poly blend batting is what I use. One thing to remember these days - doctors tell parents not to put blankets on infants, as an infant can wiggle enough to get under the blanket and suffocate, especially if they wiggle into the corner of a crib. So, if young parents today follow DRs orders, babies will not use their quilts while unsupervised.

I personally dislike 100% polyester batting. Some of it feels like brillo to me, and I imagine it scraping away the quilt fabric from the inside. But that is my wild imagination, as I've never heard any one complain about that.

That is an excellent article. Thank you for posting. I know that the main intent is addressing safety, but the information also helps while doing a burn-test to help determine the fabric.

A very interesting article indeed. As a hot air balloon pilot for 30+ years and married to a firefighter for almost as many, I have been keenly aware of the (possible horrific) results of fire & polyester. Only 100% natural fibers for me in both clothing and quilting.

You are correct Cathy, many new Mums use sleep sacks for their babies when they put them to bed. That is why I was asking about a stroller quilt and a tummy time one.

I have lots of 80/20 and some bamboo batting. I will likely use the 80/20 and perhaps use two layers in the tummy time one.

I have only made one baby quilt so far and I used wool batting for it.