Choosing batting
 

I am ready to hand quilt a 72" x 72" quilt top I have completed. It is totally needle turn applique and took a year to complete. I want to use the right batting for ease of quilting and appearance. I have Hobbs wool and a Hobbs silk bat to choose from. I also have a Hobbs 80/20 cotton wool that I purchased for another top that I could also use. I have quilted with both the wool and silk--the wool for utilitarian pieced quilts and the silk for a show quilt that was also pieced. The wool has more loft and I am thinking it would give better definition and help the applique to stand out, but the silk has such an elegant drape. I have not quilted with the cotton/wool batting. I can't come up with a reason for one over the other and need opinions. I usually decide to give whatever I have a try, but this is a special quilt and I don't want to make a mistake.

I would do a sample first and see which is easiest to quilt by hand. It depends also if you do loop or loopless I guess.

I quilt on a Grace Z44 quilt frame. I don't know how to do a sample in this case. I don't have an extra appliqued block to experiment with. I will be outlining the applique and cross hatching for the most part.

Wool will give better definition to your quilting stitches. However, as you note, silk has that uniquely elegant drape. How will the quilt be used? If it will be *your* cuddle quilt, I think I would go with the silk; you will take good care of the quilt and will appreciate all of the stitching, and the quilt will feel very luxurious which goes with all of the hand stitching in it. If it will be used by other people too, or if it will be primarily used to decorate the home, then I might opt for the wool because it's so indestructible and also because the quilting stitches will stand out more from a distance; wool will still feel good for cuddling, but it won't have quite the luxurious feel of silk batting.

Edit: It's really a hard choice. I will say that Roxanne McElroy (Dierdre McElroy's mother and the one who established Roxanne products) chose silk batting for all of her hand quilted quilts. She passed them around in class and I must say the *feel* of silk batting is absolutely wonderful.

I am not using the big stitch method. The quilt will be used primarily as a decorative bed cover, though sometimes I might drape it over an intricate stair rail in the entrance way if my Victorian home.

I wouldn't try the Hobbs 80/20. That is what I use for machine quilting because it does have a scrim. I don't know if the wool or the silk has a scrim. I have used Quilter's Dream Cotton when I have hand quilted (which is seldom) because it quilts like a warm knife going thru a stick of butter.

I think in this case I would opt for the wool, as it will give better definition to the stitching. The luxury feel and drape of silk batting would not come into play much for these uses, whereas the look of the stitching will constantly be in play.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I chose to use the wool and I think it is an excellent choice. The loft causes the applique to have almost a trapunto effect that really accents the applique. The wool is also so easy to hand quilt. I just completed a pieced quilt with many seams. I used a Hobbs 80/20 batting. It was a labor to quilt, mostly, I think because of the seams. The quilt was Oh, My Stars by American Jane. It turned out really well, but it was on my Grace Z44 frame for three years. I was actually quilting on it with any regularity for six months. It was a difficult quilt--the hand quilting is dense. It does look quite spectacular, however. I will post pictures when my technology expert comes to visit. The quilt I asked for advice about is William Morris and Friends by Michele Hill. The hand applique (back basting) took me a year to complete. The wool batting is working really well and no seams! A pleasure to quilt. I am also enjoying the Hiroshima Tulip between needles I discovered. Thanks again for helping me make a good batting choice.

Congratulations on what sounds like a good decision. I learned a lot reading about the different battings in this thread and how they handle. Also I have never heard of Hiroshima Tulip needles. I usually use John James. I might look for those. I wonder how they are different.