I mostly use Hobbs Heirloom batting for quilts and Pellon fusible fleece for purses and bags. (Those brands are what we sell at the LQS where I work.) I like the drape of the Hobbs, more soft and fluid than some of the other batts I have used in the past. I did buy a black batting once, I think it may have been Quilter's Dream, that worked very well for a very dark quilt. I hate, hate, hate polyester because it makes quilts too stiff and unnatural, it beards and mooshes down over time. I used a wool batt once and loved it because of the easy way it needled. But, it can be pretty expensive.
The fusible fleece gives purses and bags body, makes them stand up on their own better than batting, I think because it's denser, and I'm sure because of it's being fused to the fabric.

For handbags, try Inn-Control batting.

Thank you LindaM! Those were great sites and very helpful info. Im so excited to start my DG's quilt.

I am a long arm quilter and only handle Quilter's Dream batting on a roll for my clients. I love the way all of their batting quilts up.

It is interesting that we are having another batting discussion here on the board. On Saturday I will have the opportunity to attend a lecture by Larry Hobbs at the Ranching Heritage Museum in Lubbock. He is a contributing sponsor for the quilt exhibit currently on display at the museum. I am hoping to ask all of my batting questions on Saturday!

Dayle

I have a review of many different types of battings and my experiences on my blog.

http://californiaquilting.blogspot.com/

I love Hobbs 80/20 fusible batting. It makes sandwiching and machine quilting easy and stress-free. It has been one of the things in the last year that have seriously improved my quilting life.

wow great to read about the whole batting issue. I am glad that even though the topic may have come up times before that it circles around again. I am not on this site often enough to catch everything. Thank you to those who posted and for the one to ask the question. I love learning.

great advice ckcowl! one cannot be afraid to test available products to see what works best for them.

"What's best" can also vary from project to project! It really is a good idea to try out different battings on smaller projects so you can see how they look and perform.