I try and hand quilt a quilt each year ( and have pointed out to my daughter that these are the ones you keep once I am gone!!) but I can't find a quilt batting locally that is easy to needle and is thin enough to do make the quilts as soft as I want them to be.

I do a lot of online shopping and I am thinking I will buy one online but the choices are boggling.

Could some of you HAND quilters out there help me with suggestions? Thanks!

I've used a lot of different battings for hand quilting. My favorite cotton batting is Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon, my favorite polyester is Hobbs Polydown. I also like and use Mountain Mist Quilt Lite (a very thin poly batt), and Quilters Dream cotton in the lowest weight. While many hand quilters really like Quilters Dream, I felt it was really flat.

For my next quilt, I'm using wool - I've read lots of good things about it.

Janet

I always found any of the cotton batts a little difficult to hand quilt. Like Janet, I used Mountain Mist Quilt Lite most of the time. Any of the poly/cotton batts are good too. I did one wool batt years ago, quilted easily, but didn't wash well.They have been perfected since I last used one to be more washer friendly.

Hobbs 80/20 is great. I tried cotton batting and it was just too heavy for me to hand quilt.
If I want to quilt a very lightweight item, I use Thermore.
It drapes beautifully and is easily needled.

Chris

If you want a little puffiness, I like Hobbs 80/20. If you prefer all cotton, I hear Quilter's Dream Request weight is really nice (needlepunched cotton, but no scrim). For hand quilting, I stay away from battings that are needlepunched through scrim (such as Warm 'n' Natural), as the scrim adds an extra layer of resistance.

My favorite machine batting is Mountain Mist 100% blue ribbon cotton, but I find it difficult to hand quilt. Gives a lovely antique look, because this is actually the type of batting that was used generations ago, but it makes my fingers really sore.

I often use Hobbs 80/20 for my quilts and Legacy 80/20. Tuscany cotton 100% is also easy to hand quilt and gives a traditional look.
Like Prism99 I avoid battings with a scrim, they are too hard to hand quilt for me.