Batting for a bedspread
 

My husband wants me to make a king size bedspread. What would you use for batting to allow it to drape over the sides and foot?

If you want it to go all the WA to the floor, you will probably have to piece your batting.

What ever your quilt top measures then add 8 to 10 inches, so that you have 4 to 5 inches to spare all the way around. I would find a very light weight polyester batting because that is going to be very heavy no matter what you use.

There are several kinds and brands of batting. My favorites are the 80/20 blend by Hobbs and the 100% cotton by Warm and Natural. I think the 80/20 is softer, but after washing I can barely tell the difference between the two. Bamboo is super soft and super expensive. I would avoid the polyester as it can be difficult to quilt. There are other brands, but these are the two I am most familiar with. I hope that helps.

I had a friend do this , she brought a very thick batting , look lovely a puffy she then took it to her Long Arm Quilter and had it channel quilted , then set about making the cover it was like doing quilt as you go , yes it took some time but she was working without a pattern or any idea how to go about it , but it did turn out lovely , I would have been happy to drape it over my bed , funny thing she didn't want to share . Good luck Cathy

I'd vote to use the lightweight poly batting -- a bedspread is bigger than a quilt and weight can be an issue.

I usually use 80/20 or on a couple I have used 50/50, most recently I quilted a couple of quilts with the "Dream Batting" and am impressed they had wonderful drape and excuse the pun but quilted up like a dream... I usually make my quilts "oversized" usually to the floor or just shy of it. You can get these batting by the roll which I use. I also used wool on one actually just to see how it quilted and liked it too.

I have Quilters Dream in 2 of my quilts with drop on queen-sized bed. Love how they drape.

I made a king size quilt for a queen size bed for my son and his wife. I used silk batting and it was wonderful to work with and drapes very nicely on the bed. I highly recommend silk when you are doing something very special because it is worth the extra expense. Otherwise, I generally use Hobbs 80/20 or dream cotton. I, personally, avoid polyester for a multitude of reasons.

I would first measure your mattress and determine the size of batting you will need. Most king size batting I believe is 120"x120" I always have preferred using Hobbs 80/20 for machine quilting.

MIL wanted a quilted bedspread that reached the floor so her sister made one for her. After using it a very short time she and FIL decided it was way too heavy, so had it cut down. My quilted bedspread reaches the bottom of the box springs, so I don't use a dust ruffle. It is heavy enough to stay in place but not too heavy to move when needed. I used W&N batting. It's been on my bed for a year and both DH and I are happy with it. Washed for the first time yesterday, and I was able to wash it in my home washer and air dry in the dryer. Came out quite nice.

The Warm Co. makes Soft & Bright (100% poly) and Warm Blend (50% poly 50% cotton). Either would make your quilt easier to handle and launder. My experience is that both machine quilt OK.

I would go with a lightweight poly because the weight will be significant with the quilt being so large.

I made a queen bedspread from my first pieced top. I made it to fit the top of the bed then attached a bed skirt for the drop. It was a bit short so I added a band of wide Irish lace to the bottom of the skirt. I was lucky to find a premade skirt that matched.
I backed the top with a sheet, no batting because l wanted to use it year round.

I enjoyed reading this post, because I want to make a summer-weight quilt for our bed. I've chosen a Kansas Troubles layer cake and cream tone-on-tone yardage for the background. This all should go together quickly, as I will be using the D9P pattern and the blocks will be huge! I appreciate the input on the batting, because I want the quilt to be lightweight but to drape nicely as well. I'm thinking of going with lightweight poly or 80/20. Thank you for your suggestions!

Thinsulate by Thermore is a thin poly batting I"ve used some. Should drape nicely. comes in a gray bag.

Are you saying a quilt for a spread? If for spread only, you will not need any batting. Just the top and the bottom, and quilt as usual. A king quilt for a spread will be heavy.

wool batting drapes nicely.