Best Batting for warmth?
 

I'm making a quilt for our oldest dd. She's usually cold. I usually use 100% cotton, warm and natural. That makes for a thin quilt. I have NOT washed any of the fabric for the top or bottom. What is the warmest batting to ensure this quilt is used for warmth and not just used during the summer months? Current temperature outside is 13*. We live in NY state.

I would look into wool batting. I have used Hobbs Heirloom Wool batting. You could use to layers of batting but that would just make the quilt heavier. Good Luck !!

What helps the warmth factor is also the quilting. Air is a great insulator and when a quilt is quilted too densely it may not be as warm. Maniacquilter2 has a great idea of using the wool or two layers of batting, just don't quilt so tight it goes flat. Use whatever distance between quilting lines the batting package suggests. If you use 2 batts make sure they are compatible for quilting line distance. Clear as mud? :)

Warm and White/Natural is fairly warm, and doesn't need to be quilted closely. You could use 2 layers, but the quilt will get heavy. I've never used wool batting. What about 2 layers of fleece? It traps air to hold the warmth. Don't know where in NY you are, but outside of Albany it's 4 below. Just brought in more firewood and am under a fleece blanket right now. Is she amenable to layering a blanket under the quilt for 3 season functionality? Or- maybe a fluffier poly batting and tying or channel quilting like a comforter?

Would you also consider how cool/warm she keeps the inside of the house? It is cold outside here (not that cold!) but we have the heat on some so a regular quilt or two is enough. I also have fleece sheets on the bed which are delightful. And very cozy. I find the fluff washes out of the flannel sheets pretty fast.

I wonder if using wool batting, if you can wash that, years ago when wool was used in quilts you had to take it all apart to wash. Just a thought.

The modern wool batts are needled and are as easy to care for as any other natural batt. Throw the quilt in the washer, no problem, just don't use hot water. I love wool, it's soft warm and it breathes! I would also use the minimum amount of quilting recommended by the batting you buy. The more air trapped between the layers, the warmer it is.

Wool is much warmer than warm and natural. I frequently use two battings... one layer Warm and Natural one layer poly... its a much warmer quilt... but its a lot of volume to quilt on a regular machine. When I double bat a quilt I use a longarm pro.

I use high loft polyester for warmth, and don't quilt too close. Haven't tried wool, since I and most of my family are allergic to wool.

I think I would check in to wool.

I have made 2 different quilts using wool batting they are wonderfully warm and wash beautifully. The warmest feeling one is made with flannels. It is so soft and cuddly.

When they came out with silk batting the spiel was that it would be warm in winter and cool in summer. Unfortunately the price of it prevented me from using it. though I do wonder ...

You don't necessarily have to use two battingsl. You could go for a thicker batting instead. Look at the Waddipaedia at http://www.asding.com/images/Waddipaedia_summary.pdf and it tells you the composition and thickness of the batting, as well as how good it is for hand and machine quilting. It's got a huge range of battings, including a number of blended ones. A friend of mine raves about bamboo battings, but I don't like shrinkage and I don't fancy prewashing the batting, so I haven't tried them yet.

Speaking as someone who gets very, very cold indeed, I do have a couple of quilts on the bed, but my best friend is an electric heated throw. Sometimes it's the only thing that can warm me up.

If you make her a comforter you could easily use two layers of batting. I use high loft poly batting. Warmth without the weight. Tying the comforter every 3-4" would make it more comfy and puffy.

I vote for the wool batting. I researched this, because I was making quilts for my sister and her family in Alaska. Not only was the wool easy to handle and quilt, but I've received rave reviews from my family "up north".

Lobster ... Thank you so much for the Waddipaedia!
It's so nice to have all the info on one page. I see many of the battings are ones we have here, so it will be very helpful. I'll be starting another chart with the others, so it's all together!

My warmest right now is flannel (top and back) with two layers of 12 oz. poly batting, tied every four inches. I am going to make a wool (actually a wool-blend) one with wool batting after Christmas, and I'm anxious to compare.

I've used a blanket as batting, and a flannel backing is very nice on a cold night. You could also would use the heavier weight fleece, maybe double layered, although I haven't tried that.

I've made two bedspreads with wool batting and love them summer and winter. They breathe in the summer and then keep us quite warm in winter. Our quilts have been washed and dried in machines and, if anything, might have shrunk 1-2". I don't find W&N to compare as far as warmth or comfort. Wool batting has a nice weight, softness, and drape.

Thinsulate!! It's soft, lovely warm, and I'm not allergic to it like wool.

jmho........also flannel top and backing!

It's chilly in my house at night and I've been known to put on up to 5 quilts on my bed at once--on me.

I have used wool batting and a high quality flannel backing.

Wool would be the warmest I think. You might want to tie the quilt instead of "quilting" it.

If you can find a goose down comforter in the size you want it would be a very warm and light weight batting. In the past and over time I have purchased two of them at the local thrift store.

WOOL OR SILK……Hobbs makes wonderful wool batting that can be machine washed, and does not need to be densely quilted……I used their wool in the quilt I did for my Brother and SIL last year……they heat their entire 3 story Victorian house with the fireplace (no insert) in their living room - so bedrooms get cold……but they love their quilt and say they have a thin cotton blanket over the sheet and under the quilt, and need nothing else.

Buy her an electric mattress pad. My sister sent me one for Christmas and I love it!! Even DH likes it. We heat with wood and it's a blessing to crawl into a warmed bed. I will say I love the heavyness of blankets in the winter, so the more I have, the better I sleep. And yes I wear an oversized pair of socks as well to keep my feet warm for which hubby is thankful.

When it gets really cold (like camping in close to freezing temps) minky plus a comforter and sleeping in a fleece snuggly with fuzzy knee socks and a couple pairs of long johns works the best so far. 😌

I think the polyester is light and very warm, I have a throw size and ut that on top when I get cold and I am surprised how warm I stay.

Natural fibers are much warmer than synthetics, so I would go with either wool or silk.

Anita

This has nothing to do with batting........but I was given a corn filled 13 x 16 filled sack that you heat in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes.....what a blessing! The other night I couldn't get to sleep even though my electric blanket was up on 2. I heated that bag and put it at my feet [yes, I sleep with soxs on] and in a short time I was fast asleep! I've been doing that every night now before I go to bed and I sleep much better.

I'm making some for gifts with white rice filling instead of the corn as that is what I have.

How about flannel for the backing? I presume the quilt is cotton, but my guild friends say you can mix cotton and flannel... Haven't done that yet, but maybe someone else on the board can clarify this for us. Good luck!
I made a quilt for our youngest daughter, tied it rather, and used high-loft batting. She said I was really warm, and they al loved that quilt. It was pretty; I just didn't like it. Mariah

I am using Quilter's Dream wool batting a quilt I am doing now and am not having any reactions to it. If fact, despite being told that I am allergic to wool, I have found that if the wool is processed so that it is relatively soft and smooth I have no issues.

I think that my allergy is more of a textural sensitivity than a true allergy. I know some people are allergic to lanolin, but it appears that most wool these days has been processed in such a manner that there is little lanolin left in the fibers.

Wellll, I picked up two thin quilts from Goodwill the other day; $6 each. Both had one piece top, no blocks but the pattern of the fabric was a quilt design. The backs are so ugly they are gorgeous and in no way come even close to coordinating with the front. Same for the bindings. Both are handquilted, and rather nicely. Six people in the house called dibs on them.....and only two! One went to daughter as a bedspread; it was vintage enough to go with her vintage room. The second one goes to the college guy even though it is flowers because it is his school colors and he thinks it will be a chick magnet. So, the daughter was sleeping with a crocheted blanket, a sleeping bag, and a fleece blanket (very cold in her room)> Since the takeover of quilt #1 that is the only cover she needs! I was amazed. Son did not believe and tried his out instead of waiting to get back up at school. Yep, same warmth! These things are so light weight, how could this be? Of course I picked open to see...........flannel. Just flannel with a cotton front and a cotton back; not an over abundance of quilting but not minimal, either. Flannel?

I turn the heat off at night in our house and we use cotton batting quilt and a wool quilt on our bed. The wool was very nice to work with and washed up super. Good luck!

I'll second the suggestion of getting her a mattress pad. I've been using one for years. We have a wood stove in the living room that heats the living room and kitchen, but the rest of the house is pretty much closed off for the winter. There's about a foot high space between the hallway and unused bedroom door where air from the heated section of the house gets into the bedroom. I haven't been cold yet. It was -18F the night before last. The one I have has three different areas for temperature settings, so I can have the foot part of the bed pretty warm, the middle lukewarm and the top just enough to get rid of the chill of the sheets.

I live in the cold...and in the summer I use my quilt Warm and natural and in the winter I use two warm and natural quilts and no other blanket and we are warm and cozy!! I also have a wool batting and it is warm but sometimes too warm.