I just finished my first quilt with bamboo blend batting and I love it for just the reason you said! I'm tired of stiff quilts, and love the drape, and softness of bamboo. Sure hope it has the longevity of cotton. :roll:

For hand quilting you can't beat Mountain Mist Quilt Lite. It is like quilting through melted butter. Anything with cotton is hard to get the needle through and have small stitches. I pride myself on my small stitches. Iknow I'll get a lot of feedback from this comment, as most people don't like anything Mountain Mist.

I prefer quilters dream poly or wool. No cotton for handquilting.

I took a class with a VERY famous quilter and this is what she uses. You are in good company.

Mainly polyester battings - lightweight and yet warm.

I've used most of the batting brands out there (cheap to expensive). I prefer Legacy brand to all of them. I'm using their 80/20 blend with scrim for most of my customer quilts and absolutely love how it quilts. I've also used their 100% cotton and their 80/20 without scrim. I compared the feel (softness, texture, etc.) of their wool to Hobbs and Quilters Dream and I prefer it also. I currently have some Quilters Dream wool in stock that I will use up and then I will be getting a 9-yard board of the Legacy wool. I just finished a customer quilt with Warm and Natural (used to be my favorite brand, too) and it just doesn't compare to Legacy. I have a roll of Microsafe Poly batting that stitches up quite nicely, too. I bought it at JoAnn's on sale.

for the most part it depends. most charity organizations prefer poly batting. for my family quilts I most often use 80/20

I usually use Warm and White and I love it. But I just finished a quilt using bamboo. Don't remember the brand but I got it at Joann's with a 50% off coupon. Bamboo is pretty pricey. I love the bamboo so it will probably be my new first choice as long as I can get it on sale.

I have never heard about that brand and just looked it up in the internet - it is made of polyester, right? I would really like to try it - but unfortunately it seems to be unavailable here in Germany.

As a handquilter for more than 40 years I must confess I prefer poly batting. It allows me to stitch with the least amount of stress to my hands and I like the way the fabric of the quilt poofs after it is quilted. I don't like the flat look you get with some of the cotton battings etc. The poly gives the quilting depth which shows off the quilting especially in a wholecloth quilt. Another plus is the lighter weight yet still warm.