Welcome and I love your quilt and fabric choices. I use warm and natural and it really depends on how much quilting I do as to how "crinkly" it turns out.

Thank you! I used two collections by the same designer (Lotta Jandotter) and I think it worked well. I can't take full credit, because this was inspired by another quilt I saw, by the very wonderful Red Pepper Quilts.

Thank you! So, is what you're saying that quilting closer together will produce a more crinkly look?

I actually think it's the batting that makes the most difference. don't know what's available in the UK, there are lots of members who live there and hopefully someone will chime in with a cotton batting (wadding?) that will shrink a bit and is available there.
I also have a theory that if you pre wash (pre shrink) your fabric and don't shrink your batting you get more wrinkles. You quilt the fabric to the batting which holds it in place. The batting shrinks, but not the fabric which has to bunch up a bit to accomodate the smaller batting. If your fabric also shrinks because you didn't pre wash, it will shrink at about the same rate as the batt, resulting in a smoother quilt. That's my theory anyway ;-)
It's sort of trial and error. Try different battings, flannel pre wash/don't, tumble dry vs. air dry etc. eventually you will come up with a combo that you like.

Any cotton fabrics have the possibility of being a bleeder. I prewash all fabrics to eliminate any questions of bleeders and if I find one, I pretreat with Retayne....that problem is then solved. I find that using a batting of mostly cotton is what makes the crinkly look...some cotton battings will shrink 3-5%, some more. Combine that shrinkage with a closer quilting and you get the desired look. The quilting secures the layers together, then washing/drying shrinks the batting and pulls the fabric creating those little puckers and that beautiful finish that most of us love!

Beautiful quilt. My quilts crinkle enough to suit me. I prewash all my fabrics. I wash and dry my quilts as soon as I finish sewing the binding on. I always use my dryer (tumbler).
Welcome to the board from Missouri.

Oh, that makes total sense, thank you!

oh sorry, I meant to ask: what is your preferred batting? We seem to get a lot of American batting here, so it's possible that I can find your favourite and give it a try.

I've only used warm & natural (or white) batting with pre-washed fabrics. I get plenty of crinkles, I think! I wash my quilts in the machine on a regular cycle and dry in the dryer. Not sure that quilting distance makes that much difference but other, more experienced quilters will guide you on that. I've done both lots and minimal quilting and don't seem to notice much difference in the crinkle. I think it's really the dryer that helps with that look.

oh that is so cute!!! but yes, the tumbler/dryer heat is what will help crinkle it a bit.