Which is the best, and do you prefer 100% cotton, which battings should i never buy

I only use polyester batting, doesn't shrink, I've made lots of quilts using it and I like everything about it.

I like Hobbs Heirloom Premium Cotton Batting (80% cotton 20% Polyester. I order it online from Connecting Threads.
http://www.ConnectingThreads.com

I haven't quilted enough to recommend anything, but I will be watching (and learning) with you! And, the baby is adorable!!!

I use the same batting and get it from Connecting Threads. They have a great sale now and then and when you order $50 it is free shipping. I have been using the Thermore for hand quilting. It is really thin almost like not having any batting at all...but sure easy to hand quilt. I heard their wool batting is great for hand quilting. But if machine quilting the 80/20 percent polyester is the best!

you should buy every batting you come across and try them all! i cut a little 6" square from my battings and document the name of it, any characteristics, its laundering instructions, price, where it came from...i have about 60 swatches now.after i use it i also add anything about that...if i hated it, if i loved it...whatever...that way i can check if i'm seeing one on sale and i don't remember if i've used it i can check my little book, and if i hated it i can see that too...and i will tell you, batting is as personal a choice as anything else...there is one batting on the market that i have heard lots of quilters rave about and me? I ABSOLUTELY HATE IT!!! so, i would not tell you which one you should get. i will tell you this, you should always purchase the best quality you can afford. The warm company has very good products as does the dream batting. my absolute fave's are..warm & natural; dream poly; dream wool; dream cotton; dream bamboo; hobbs supreme heirloom. i'm not going to say the ones i hate...some people love them...and some probably hate some of my faves.

Me too. I only make quilts for my family to use and the quilts are washed a lot. Poly washes easily and costs less too.

I only use Warm & Natural or Warm & White, which is all cotton and needled. You can quilt it up to 10" apart, and it shrinks with the fabric giving a nice look. I don't use polyester at all...some people use it, and that is their choice.

I do like the all cotton...I don't like the puffiness of polyester. Like my quilts more flat! Especially when I lean towards more primitive quilts.

Same goes for me. I like the feel of W&N but am planning to try some variety from the Hobbs line when I run out of my batting stash.

I like warm and natural and hobbs 80/20.

Ditto!

To me, it depends on whether you are going to hand quilt or machine.

For hand, wool is the best.
For machine, depends on what I'm quilting. Warm and Natural is good, but I don't have a problem with polyester either. Depends on the look you want. I use low loft poly for table runners, etc.

As a hand quilter, I like Quilters Dream cotton batting. I've used this exclusively for some years now, and have never been disappointed with the results. It is a thinner batting, but they make others with more loft, if that's what you're after. Check it out!

http://www.quiltersdreambatting.com/

I'm new at this. Can you please explain what is meant by "needled" batting? Thanks. Sharon

Needled batting means the batting has been smashed with hundreds of needles. It causes the fibers to bond together, except for the outer fibers. They tend to be denser and can beard because of the outer fibers. They are also usually a littler loft than a bonded batt.

I think the use of different battings is always a matter of personal preferences. I love to try new brands and see how I like it and how it fits to everything that is important for me: easy to needle for hand quilting, a nice drape, soft touch, a little bit ot antique look after first wash etc.

I think she meant needlepunched.

Warm n Natural batting is needlepunched through scrim. The scrim makes the batting extremely stable so it can be quilted up to 10 inches apart without falling apart in the wash. Scrim makes it harder to hand needle (hand quilt), although many people still do it. The needlepunching through scrim also makes the batting heavier, with a slightly stiffer drape.

Quilter's Dream cotton batting, in contrast, is needlepunched but not through a scrim. Needlepunching makes the batting very even and adds stability.

Old-fashioned cotton battings such as Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon are not needlepunched. They need to be quilted closer together to keep the batting stable. Quilting lines should be no more than about 2 inches apart.

Have you ever used it? I always quilt more than 2 inches apart so it would be interesting to know how it is to for hand quilting.

I use warm and natural but it is NOT 100% cotton. When my supply is gone I'm going to buy *real* cotton batting,

A friend of mine uses Dream batting and she loves it for hand quilting. I have an applique quilt to hand quilt and have the Dream batting to try with it. It feels like it will be great!

I am a new quilter here and been trying a few of different batting, I noticed (so did my hubby) that for bed quilts, we like Dream Cotton the best, the medium loft I think. For wall-hanging, placemats and such ,I really like Warm and Natural because it has the scrim and tends to be a little "stiffer." I haven't tried polyester or bamboo, and I am about to try the fusible batting. We'll see.

I like that too, but I get the100 percent cotton. I lioke the way it shrinks . It gives your quilts an antique look.

Much appreciation for your response, Sadiemae. It was very helpful.

I use Quilters Dream Blend (70/30) batting. They say it is especially made for machine quilting and you can quilt up to 12" apart.

My thanks to you, too, Prism99. Your explanation was very good, but I had to go look up scrim (and bearding from Sadiemae). But that's a "good" thing, and the old noodle now "gets it". Eureka!! Once I looked up scrim I find I have not been checking to see if I am placing the closer scrim side to the back of the quilt. Good thing I have only done 1. With my luck, though, it has the scrim closer to the top. Live and learn, huh? And I don't suppose it much matters on wall hangings which is the majority of my work so far. I'll just be careful going forward. Thanks again.

That's just a great idea about the batting swatches. Do you mind if I steal it from you?

I've really only used the Warm & Natural myself but have been thinking about trying some others. I love to read other quilter's comments good/bad about products. I think it really helps.

Even negative comments are helpful. Maybe you dislike a particular quality about a (thickness, thinness, weight) batting that I do and it would help me make a more educated choice. You don't have to slam a product to point out it qualities. Variety is the spice of life!

Thanks again for the great tip on the batting!

It all depends on what you want to accomplish with the batting. Before quilt batting becomes batting it is some type of fiber. Polyester, cotton, wool, bamboo, ect. Batting companies also blend these fibers together, such as 50% cotton and 50% bamboo, or 80% cotton, and 20% polyester, ect. The two major methods of making these fibers into batting is (1) Needled or Needle punched (2) Bonded Needled batting is when the factory sends the fibers through a machine that has hundreds of barbed needles that go back and forth through the fibers weaving them together. You end up with a products that is about 1/10 of 1" thick. The standard is to have 4 oz. of fibers per sq. foot of batting. Almost all cotton, wool, and other natural fibers are made into batting using this method. It comes with or without a scrim (Warm and Natural has a scrim) Scrim is a thin mesh that the batting is needled around, it gives the batting more strength from tugs and pulls. But it can bother some machines and can be a little more difficult to hand quilt. Most hand quilter perfer without scrim. Most polyester batting is bonded batting. You might have heard the slogan "Bonded batting doesn't beard" Bonded batting is made usually in either of two methods. Resin bonded or Thermal bonded, as the name implies. Resin bonded batting has a glue sprayed on to the fibers and they stick together as the glue drys. Thermal bonded batting uses heat to melt some of the fibers (low melt fibers) to the point where they adhere or stick to the regular fibers. You now have no glue or resin in the batting. Most factories are moving from the older method (resin bonding) to the newer method (thermal bonding) Bonded batting has lots of air space and can be very thin like a 2 oz. batting You can almost see through this batting (loft about 0.20") up to 20 oz batting (loft about 1.50"). So if you want a very puffy product when you are finished you would want a high loft or extra high loft batting. Polyester batting is usually referred to as 2oz or 3 oz Low Loft, 4 oz Medium Loft, 6 oz to 8 oz High Loft and 10 oz extra high loft). Polyester batting usually comes on a roll that is 48" or 96" wide. The oz. weight is usually measured in how much fiber is put into each lenier yard of product (not sq. foot like needled batting). So a 3 oz 48" wide and a 6 oz 96" wide product would be the same batting the 96" wide product has twice as much fiber because it is twice as wide. Polyester cost about 1/2 of what cotton cost, wool cost about twice as much as cotton. Polyester is not a natural fiber (oil based) and does not "breath" like the natural fibers. Most all the great quilting artist use a cotton batting. Folks that are making quilts for everyday use, usually use a polyester batting. Cotton batting gets fuller after each washing. (This is as the fibers loosen up from the needle processing. Where polyester batting starts to get less puffy as the fibers break down. Hope this information helps a few folks understand batting a bet better. www.batt-mart.com has a large selection of batting. They have HOBBS, THE WARM COMPANY, QUITERS DREAM, AIRTEX, FAIRFIELD, PELLON, other no brand name products

I only use Warm and Natural it works good for me.

I have hand quilted Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon batting 2 inches apart. It held up very well; however, I don't recommend hand quilting this batt because it is hard to needle (my fingers got very sore). That's why I prefer machine quilting this particular batting.