Batting question from a newbie. Can I double it? Or other suggestions?
 

I've been quilting for about a year, and have made a wall hanging, table runner and a couple of throw sized quilts; all after taking a few classes from my LQS before it closed....
My question is about batting. All I've used so far is Warm and Natural, because that is what was recommended by the LQS for our sampler quilt.....which I still need to finish by the way....

It just seems kind of thin to me.....or is this natural and just how it should be?

I'd like my quilts to keep me warm, say in a Michigan winter......will this work; or should I look at something else that is thicker....or maybe double the Warm and Natural? My grandmother quilted for decades, and hers seemed to be thicker..... I'm in between houses right now, so everything is packed, but it seems like hers was thicker, but I could be wrong.

Any suggestions as to a good all around batting to use that will bring the warmth?
Thanks in advance for your input. =)

Many people love to use wool batting or a wool mix. Light weight, but warm.

I personally prefer a fluffy poly batt with less quilting than is currently popular. I would not double warm and natural over an entire project because it would be very heavy, but I have doubled it to make appliques raise and such. The weight is both an issue if you are quilting it on a domestic machine, and the weight of the finished blanket itself.

There are times that I do want to use warm and natural because that will produce the finished product I want, but most times... I go fluffier. I have a top I just completed that I'm going to have as a summer quilt and I'll use a really thin poly batt in that one.

I’ll second the wool batt suggestion, I love working with it and would use it on just about everything if the price wasn’t slightly higher. You can double batt warm and natural but that’s usually done when quilting on a long arm due to the bulk. Sometimes I’ll compromise and use a thick fleece or minky backing in addition to warm and natural to bulk it up, if I’m not too concerned about my quilting definition on the front side.

Lots of people double-batt, especially for competition because it shows the quilting much better. Usually it's an 80/20 blend on the bottom and wool on top.

However, I second the guess that your grandmother was probably using poly batting. You can get different lofts (levels of fluffiness), although a super-high loft batting might a little more difficult to quilt without getting puckers.

I think a looser quilt equals a fluffier, warmer quilt if you use poly or wool. If you think about insulation in houses and down jackets, one of the keys to warmth is having air pockets. Foam insulation has thousands of air pockets in the walls of your house. Down traps warm air in pockets and layers in coats and on a goose. The more densely quilted quilts just don't seem to be as warm to me. Of course, you can then bring weight into it. Heavier quilts always seem warmer! :)

I was remaking an old comforter I had. I really liked the top fabric so remade it by taking apart(they had only tacked it together in very few places). I bought wool batting as people here on the QB were always talking about how warm it was. Well, it just looked too thin to me so I doubled it with Quilters Dream Puff. I quilted it on a longarm so no problems with that. But, I found it isn't warm enough and we had to add an old store bought comforter to get warm enough. I'm quite puzzled as I have had experience with a thin quilt(with poly batting) and it was plenty warm enough even though the bed had less blankets than we use at home. The few quilts I've made I've given away(made with fluffy poly batting) so don't know if poly is warmer than wool. The spacing of the quilting is an interesting aspect. The quilting is about 5" apart and the quilt does has have good definition but is that quilting too close and affecting the warmth factor?

Mostly what I use is high loft polyester batting. Warmth without the weight. I mainly FMQ on a 9" throat machine.

Thank you for all your replies.
I guess it'll take a little experimentation to figure out what I like.
Live and learn. =)

I long arm quilt and double bat when I want some real quilt definition. I use an 80/20 on the bottom (Hobbs usually) and then layer it with a washable wool. Using a washable wood instead of 2 layers of 80/20 keeps it from being super heavy and also the wool is loftier than 80/20.
Poly does not "breath", so while it's light weight and warm, it does not allow for presiperation to dissapate--wool does, which is why it's both warm and in hot months does not heat up as much. About the only time I use poly is on quilts that I plan to enter into a show and don't want creases as it resists that more. I especially avoid high loft poly as it tends to lend itself more to puckers when quilting.

For warmth, you might want to make a flannel quilt top and then use either a double bat or wool, and a flannel backing.