Dont make my mistake...
 

I went to a fiber fair and bought alpaca batting...I just finished my quilt and just took it out of the washer. I have to hang dry it...its smells...and I mean smells...I pray the smell goes away once it is dry. My cats are totally scared of the quilt...

So sorry... so that's what i need to do to keep my zoey away.

Oh no!

I have never heard of alpaca batting - did it needle well? I have an alpaca scarf that a friend got for me in Peru 30 years ago, and it stinks if it gets even a bit damp. (But no one expects to wash their scarf!) Can you contact the batting maker and ask her advice?

Alison

Hopefully, when it dries it will not smell :( . I know that my dogs fur smells when it's wet but not when it's dry. Don't forget to post how it smells once it's dry.

I used a blue needle (Jean) once I did that I had no problem quilting. The quilt looks great it just is so smelly...hoping once it dries it will not smell. I am not sure what I am going to do with this...I doubt I will keep it. then again it will keep the cats off the guest bed. It was the first time that the cats did not go near me while quilting. if you want to keep your cats out of the sewing room buy a small piece of the batting and put it in the room. They will not go in that room...really.

I bought an alpaca sweater years ago and I always try to wear a silky blouse underneath because it feel scratchy against my skin. I was told by the woman who knit it (and sells other alpaca products) to wash it and then rinse it in hair conditioner. Hair conditioner not only makes it soft, it gives it a pleasant smell.

Good grief! Reminds of an embroidered coat made of reverse animal skins that I bought decades ago (early 1970s) in Germany but it was from somewhere in Africa as I remember. Lands, that thing reeked!!:eek: Finally threw it out even though it did make me look like the Beatles, LOL! Much later I found out those things were 'cured' with urine, can you believe!!:shock: SO glad I grew out of that phase, LOL!:D

Best of luck with your alpaca batting. Just goes to show that every crisis is an opportunity....no more cats in the sewing room. Stick with cotton and wool and sew away peacefully!:)

Jan in VA

When I hand wash my cashmere sweater it smells like wet dog, horrible. When dry there is no smell and it is wonderful to wear. Hopefully your alpaca will do the same

LOL, this reminds me of a story I read once about a woman who made yarn out of poodle fur. She said every dog on the street wants to check her out when she wears the sweater she made of that yarn.

I am a spinner and can tell you that most animal fibers smell when wet. The smell will go away when it is dry.
I had never heard of alpaca used in a bat. I wonder if the animal was shaved? Most of the fiber we spinners use is brushed from the animal giving us only the softer parts of the coat. But many animals have 'guard hairs' that are stiffer and can be very irritating in a spin fiber. If the animal is shaved those guard hairs will be in the fiber. The poster who said that her alpaca sweater was scratchy probably got something made from yarn that was shaved as opposed to brushed, much less expensive that way for a commercial breeder to produce fibers that can be harvested in a single shaving vs brushing the animal every week or so.

I found this site regarding the batting. I did not pay 100.00, I paid 35.00 for a queen size. My quilt is still wet so hoping we get some sun today so I can lay it out to dry. You can not put this in the dyer. I think that is what I dislike must. I am a quick wash and dry person. I can't wait to see what it does feel like once done. http://colormagicalpacas.com/batting.html
They say that the quilt is very warm and that is why people use it. I should have made this a dark quilt instead of a white and summery one.

maybe in the future this could be a dry clean only quilt

out on the deck drying
 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]359875[/ATTACH] I hung my quilt out in the porch last night and it was still wet this morning. Thankfully the sun is shining so I laid it out on the deck. Hoping it dries in a few hours so I can put the binding on. I have been reading up on the alpaca batting and it sounds like the smell will go away once dry. It was pretty easy to quilt.

Sorry no help with the smell, but I have to say that your quilt is very pretty.

that is a new batting to me. pretty quilt!!

Reading the info on that link above it says that unlike wool, alpaca doesn't have that 'wet sheep' smell when wet. That must not be true! Maybe it has that 'wet alpaca' smell instead?

It smell like dog..LOL...its outside on my deck drying now...it was still wet this morning. It does look nice so far though.

I'm sorry but this thread hit my funny bone. I remember knitting a sweater out of natural wool. The lanolin in it kept my hands soft during the knitting process. I do remember washing it and then letting it drip dry. The whole bathroom stunk until it was completely dry, then no odor at all until the next washing.

Very pretty quilt . wish you luck on the smell. joyce j

I love how it looks. I would think a "natural" bat would take much longer to dry. Fortunate for you, none of the colors bled. It sure added some spice to your usual quilting process; have been reading your earlier thread.

I never heard of alpaca batting either.

Beautiful quilt. Love the setting of the butterflies:)

That is a lovely quilt! At our last quilt show there was a vendor who had alpaca wool items for sale. They were so soft! I don't think she sold batting though.

One question - usually the binding is attached before washing. Was there a reason to wash your quilt before binding?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]359916[/ATTACH]I just bought it in...it does not smell as much. My husband can not smell it but he just finished canning 76 jars of tomatoe sauce. It does not look like it strunk at all. To answer Dunster. I washed it in the washing machine prior to binding incase it strunk. That way I could square it off if needed. I will bind it tomorrow. I am very please with how it came out. Leah Day has suggested that on her lasted video post. This picture is not showing all the nice quilting...not sure why...oh well...off to go apple picking. Love the fall!!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]359956[/ATTACH]here is what the quilting looks like...it does not show up in the large full quilt pictures...like a ghost.

My goodness, it looks like you even embroidered around the butterflies. I think it is an interesting concept of Leah Days', and maybe I'll try it on a future quilt, howbeit, it will be a small baby quilt as I can't handle anything bigger anymore. I love your quilt and what I could see of your quilting. However, your 'episode' with the alpaca batting has made me realize I will stick to wool and cotton batting! Thanks for posting this, it was very interesting.

I'm sure like other animal fibers, once it dries it will be fine. Your quilt is very pretty. I have a question. Is there a reason why you wash it before you sew your binding on? Never heard of this before.

You've answered my question above. It wasn't there when I posted the above note. My computer is misbehaving this morning!

I am sorry and I'm laughing with you! That is horrible. I can just picture the cats, with a terrified expression on their faces, running from the quilt. Sure hope it gets better.

I had heard and seen alpaca batting for sale, but never bought it. Now I think I will not. Hopefully, the smell will dissipate at some point.

Wow talk about live and learn! Guess I'll stick to old tried and true. Thanks for letting us all know!

I cracked up laughing after picturing your cats running from your quilt. The quilt is lovely!

Lovely quilt and oh my, what a humourous thread...loved it!!! Made a great start to my day...thanks all!!!!

This is one of those posts that I read all the way through. Your quilt is very pretty. Can I have it since I hate ( sorry strong word - will use dislike ) cats?

What a pretty quilt!!! Absolutely love the butterflies and your choice of fabrics!!! And I'm sure your kitties will love it, once it's on your bed :)

Jody

It took several days for the quilt to dry completely, but not that it is dry it smells fine...my cats still will not go near it though..I think I will make a table runner as mentioned above. That is a perfect solution to keeping the kitties off the table. One not the Alpaca batting does not cringle so if you do not like the cringle look this batting is for you...though you can not dry it in the dyer. I did use the wool setting on the washing machine and that worked fine.