Batting for dark background quilt
 

My quilt top is appliqued 12" squares on a black/charcoal print background. Should the batting be black or does it matter? I know if the batting beards it would be a problem, but I won't use batting that beards.

First of all, there are no guarantees! .... so if you are comfortable with the risk, that's all that matters.

Another consideration ... just as darks shadow thru lights .... a white/light batting could effectively lighten the effect of your black/charcoal.

With all the work you have done, consider what is best for your own peace of mind and go for it!
After all ... there are NO rules!

I've used regular white batting on all different color quilts with no problem.

I've also used dark fleece as batting or as dual purpose backing/batting all in one with no problem.

It's your choice. Whichever you have on hand.

I use what I have....which is Hobbs or QDream cotton, natural.
Here's a black quilt quilted with that batting, before I put on the binding.

Jan in VA

I tried Hobbs black batting on a very dark quilt and it seemed to work fine but it is hard to find it anymore.

If the material is the least bit "see-thru", you might be able to see the batting as a shadow. I like to use black in darker quilts and beige or white in the others. That's just my preference. I bought a whole bolt of Hobbs 80/20 at the IQF in Houston in 2013 and am still working on finishing it off. Seems more of my quilts are lighter these days.

Wondering out loud here:
If you're really concerned about the white batting showing... is it possible to just add a layer of solid black fabric behind your quilt top and on top of the batting? It would add another cost to your quilt, but might be worth the effort.

It is hard to find black batts in stores, but they are on Ebay. Last week I bought a king sized black batt online from Keepsake Quilting. It was on sale, plus they have the promo discount of 10%, which I think is good for all of 2015. My mother is sending out a quilt with a lot of black background for this summer's Bible Camp quilt auction, and we decided the black batt was the best choice.

I just saw black batting on Connecting Threads...and it's still on sale 30%

Connecting threads carries Hobbs black batting. I use it often when my quilts have black/ dark backgrounds and backings. It is a nice batting to work with