One more question about 80/20: how closely ought it to be quilted? I'm sure my baby quilt is close enough at ca 1" apart but I am curious what the recommendation is.

I love the combo batts. My favorite is Quilter's Dream 70/30. It's a nice thickness and hand.
Where ever you buy your batt should have information on how close together it needs to be quilted.

I like W&N 100% cotton batting. The only thing I'd use besides that for a bed quilt would be washable wool.

In my experience, the shrinkage issue can be reduced in 2 ways:
1) Make sure to only wash in cold water & only dry on No/Low heat or lay flat to dry.
2) Quilt farther apart (check your batting about how closely together it needs to be quilted)

I also pre-soak my batting to help shrink it a little bit before I quilt with it. I do use poly batting for home decor items & wouldn't have an issue making a wall quilt with it unless I had put a lot of work into piecing/applique. I've always been told that any time you start mixing and matching materials (cotton fabric with poly batting, for example), it makes it slightly less durable. I believe that to be true, but sometimes you just really want to get something done without spending every last penny you have on materials. I made a table runner about a decade ago with poly batting & a poly-cotton thread. Recently, I started having some issue with it when I pulled it out of the dryer, but I guess for what I spent making it, 10 years is a pretty good run. And I think I can probably re-quilt/re-bind the problem areas & get some more life out of it.

I buy Pellon 80/20 batting by the bolt from Walmart.com. Put next to Hobbs I can't tell the difference and it costs less. A 96" x 9yard bolt costs around $30. That's enough for several large quilts.

Cari

I like little shrinking of my battings. I find it makes the hand quilting I do really pop, gives it that old fashioned look.

I love Hobbs 80/20 batting and have used it in 11 of my 12 quilts.

I did rinse and dry my baby quilt today and it definitely shrank. I had measured it yesterday and then again today after its bath. It shrank more lengthwise than widthwise, but I bought a much bigger piece than I needed and may have happened to cut it so the lengthwise would shrink most. I am happy that now the mother won't be surprised when her baby's quilt shrinks in the wash. However, I will say the owner of the LQS is apparently clueless: this batting most certainly does shrink, although she said it would not.

Yes, it will shrink. I tried my first quilt with it without first pre-rinsing, spin and dry in dryer of the batting. After I washed the finished quilt, I saw that it shrank more than the other battings I've used in the past. Battings I've used in the past includes 100% poly, 100 % cotton and fleece.

So I'll rinse, spin and dry before I use it. It does have a nice feel to it, too.

I think it's 4" apart, but I'm not 100% sure. Most of the quilts I do are charity quilts, so I make sure the quilts are quilted at most 4" apart so that they'll hold up to possible play time mis-adventures. We know that a child's quilt lovin' isn't always gentle, but is always inventive, comforting and (I hope) fun.

Most of what I make are for charity, and I like the feeling of the thin poly batting -- it conforms to the body and is very warm, and light weight compared to what a "good" quilter would do with cotton. For a special bed-sized quilt I think warm 'n natural or something else high quality is in order. BTW, even the worst poly batts can be quilted 3" apart.