Black batting
 

The quilt top I am finishing has 44 12" appliqued blocks and a 28" appliqued center panel. The background fabric is a black/charcoal small print. Will I be sorry if I don't use black batting? I would rather not buy batting since I have an abundant stash to choose from, but no black. This quilt top has taken a long time to finish--the applique is intricate. I don't want to spoil it all with the wrong batting. Should I just go ahead and buy black batting?

I am in the same situation and was wondering the same thing.

I would bite the bullet and get black batting. There's nothing worse than white batting bearding through black fabric!

Want it to grow a white beard?

The only black batting I've seen is 80/20. Does anyone know of any 100% cotton? TIA

i have used white and natural [100% cotton] batting on black quilts with no problems.
that includes a quilt with a completely black back and one with large areas of black background on the front.

i've never used 80/20 but a friend of mine loves it.
she's never had problems with bearding.

If the appliqué is intricate why take a chance? Save the other batting for your UFOs or start a new quilt!

I'm with giquilt why risk it. All your work and expense of fabric is it worth the chance?

I just ended up taking out some quilting I started on a quilt with a black background using regular batting, The bit of bearding was enough to make me redo it with black batting.

From what I understand about batting, there is NO 100% cotton batting that has a scrim in it. Hobbs has always been truthful about having the poly scrim embed in it's batting. If the batting has scrim, then it is NOT 100% cotton. Scrim gives the batting support so that is the reason why you can leave larger areas unquilted. That is my understanding.

I wish they made black poly batting, if not yet. I bought black batting from connecting threads , not sure what it is made of. I plan to make another quilt with a black background and don't like the white color bleeding through.

What color is the background on the front with the applique? If that is black, then yes, I would strongly consider it. That said I have made a lot of quilts and never used anything other than white/cream or natural (wool or cotton) and never seen bearding issues. And I've had plenty of black sashings, borders, and pieces within the quilts, though no mostly black quilt.

they do. Quilters Dream makes a 100% black poly. They call it Midnight dreams. But it is unlike any other poly I have ever used. In loft and texture it feels more like a cotton blend. It is wonderful batting.

Last month I ordered a Midnight Dream batt from Keepsake Quilting in king size for my mother. I thought it was reasonably priced.

The blocks are black/charcoal print. Only the applique and a little trim is color. I really wanted to try the new Hobbs 80 percent cotton and 20 percent wool batt, but it doesn't come in black. Whether it would beard or show through I don't know and I probably shouldn't take the chance. I don't use poly, so it looks like a black 80/20 cotton poly is the choice I have. Another consideration is that this quilt is a decorative spread rather than a functional quilt, so isn't likely to be washed very much.

I'm not sure if it's still going on or not, but I just got a black batting from Connecting Threads that was 30% off! I got a very good deal! If it's still going on, it may be over at midnight tonight, so check it out right away if that's how you're planning to go.

The Hobbs black batting from connecting threads is a very nice batting to use, the dream company black is also. I've used both many times - us has keep a couple on hand when I can find sales. I've never had a problem with bearding and have used natural colored battings in black quilts before too. You didn't say if you are hand or machine quilting, I don't know if it makes a difference with the bearding situation. I machine quilt.

I've not specifically tried black batting but I have used inexpensive black fleece that I got several bolts of when it was on clearance. It has worked very well.

This is interesting. Did the Amish use black batting? Did they even make it long ago.

I too would be interested to know if the Amish currently use black batting and if they did in the past.

I don't think the Amish needed to use black batting in part because they were hand quilting. Bearding is more likely with machine quilting for a couple of reasons. (1) The needles that machines require are much larger than hand quilting needles, resulting in bigger holes. (2) There tend to be many more stitches per inch of quilting with machine quilting, making many more holes along a line of stitching.

Also, the way the quilts are washed is considerably different from the way most of us wash quilts; the Amish don't use electric washing machines. This means there is a lot less mechanical agitation and rubbing of quilt against quilt.

I think these three factors combine to reduce the likelihood of bearding in any quilt.

Legacy makes a black batting which is 70% cotton and 30% polyester. I have it but have not used it yet.

I ordered a Hobbs 80/20 black batt from Quilted Memories LLC on their 50% off sale and it should be delivered tomorrow. Thanks for everyone's advice. With black I won't need to worry about bearding or hazing. I have put too much work and money into this quilt to run a risk.