Just bought a couple of whole cloth patterns and am thinking of buying Kona premium bleached muslin 108" for the front and back. From what I have read, it seems like people prefer a polyester batting for hand quilting. Looking for recommendations for fabric and batting from those who have done whole cloth hand quilting. I am a Warm and Natural fan for machine quilting but there seems to be pros and cons for hand quilting batting and fabrics. Love all the great ideas and experience found on this site. Keep it up gals and guys! It is wonderful to have a site where one can go for answers.

All I do is hand quilting, and I prefer Warm and Natural cotton batting.

I use warm and natural for everything.

I've used poly and W&N, and I'm hand quilting with W&N at the moment and finding it fine. I am also using the Kona natural too - I washed all mine first, and it washes really nicely and irons well afterwards too. I would love to do a whole cloth - is yours going to be bed sized? If so, could you tell us all where you got your patterns please?

I ordered two patterns, regular and queen size from a seller on etsy.com. Thanks for all the suggestions. Will try a sample with W&N since I have some on hand. This whole thing is going to be a new experience as I have also ordered the Thimblelady plastic thimble and needles for the pain free quilting technique. Am anxious for everything to get here so I can get started....like I don't have anything else waiting to be finished! Get bored easily so am always game to try a new project, technique, etc. Keeps life exciting!

Thanks for the info. I'll have a look.

My friend who does a lot of hand quilting says she swears by washable wool batting. She likes the loft it has..just enough to show off the quilting, and the needle slides easily in it. I have no personal experience with this, though, so it's just 3rd party info.

I do quite a bit of handquilting and prefer the low loft polyester because to do the tiny stiches I find that it does easier. I have tried the 80/20, but it was not easy to make the small stitches. In fact after quilting about 2 square feet on a wallhanging, I was having a hard time making the small stitches. I was lying in bed thinking about it and decided that I didn't like it. So I got up and started taking out all of the stitches I had done. I replaced the batting with polyester and was much happier. In fact I got a 2nd place ribbon in our quilt show. I also use either a size 11 or 12 size needle.

My favorite cotton batting for hand quilting is Request by Dream Cotton. I have a friend that only hand quilts and she only uses Mountain Mist, white or cream Rose. Actually the Request is a milli inch thinner than the MM Rose. Both are good. Dream Cotton also has a very nice poly batt. I would never use Warm & Natural again for hand quilting, it was very hard to get small stitches. I was told by a quilt shop owner that W&N was originally developed for craft work. I think it makes a machine quilted quilt too stiff, I prefer mine soft and snuggly. Just my opinions from my experiences.

I've used both. I figure it this way. If I'm going to put the time and effort into a hand-quilted project, then I go for W&N. Natural fiber with natural fiber sort of thing for me. I don't use the poly very much anymore. Maybe for lap size and under.

I use warm and natural all the time. Have not made a whole cloth quilt.

I'm a wholecloth quilter and I don't like to quilt polyester battings although most of them are easy to quilt - but I don't like how the quilt falls when it's finished. I love to use the Hobbs 80/20 batting very much and never had any problems with doing fine stiches. Tuscany 100% cotton was also very good and smooth to quilt. Wool batting has a wonderful loft (also after washing) and the needle goes trough it like a hot knife trough butter! I like the antique look of old quilts, therefore cotton is my first choice at the moment. Next I will try soy blend and bamboo blend.

What ever you do is perfect, so I am following your suggestions. Your quilts are so beautiful. I am starting on a pillow top.

I use W&N for machine quilting, but I don't like it for hand quilting. Polyester or wool needle wonderfully and I'm able to get the tiny stitches. I tried W&N just once and my hands tired quickly and my stitches weren't as tiny. This is just my own personal experience.