I'm a hand quilter and I am very interested in the type of batting the hand quilters out there use. I have tried several and I would like to know what you like and how it is to hand quilt. Thank You, Pam

I haven't used it myself yet, but I have heard from many different sources that Quilter's Dream (Request weight) cotton batting is excellent for hand quilting.

Have also heard that Fairfield's cotton batting is excellent for hand quilting IF you pre-soak it to remove the binding resins (which are good for machine quilting, but make the needle stick when hand quilting). This was the cotton batting preferred by the original Roxanne of Roxanne's needle fame; I took a hand quilting class from her a year or two before she died.

I recently purchased a wool batting off the roll at one of my local quilt shops. It was pre-shrunk and hand quilts beautifully. It is very light and supposed to be very comfortable if used for a bed quilts because it is a natural fiber and "breathes". I loved hand quilting with it.

I use Quilter's Dream and absolutely love it - it is very easy to needle.

I use Warm and Natural.

I am hand quilting one now, and I am using Hobbs 80-20, and it is quilting beautifully

I use warm and natural for all my quilts

I like Warm and Natural.

I wish I thought I had enough patience to hand quilt!

I have tried everything but the wool. I have used the new bamboo. A lot of it depends on the look you want. Dream Cotton request is the thing I use most often now. For my personal quilts I use the thinnest cotton or bamboo I can get. I am not crazy about Hobbs. I think it smells. IF a quilt has lots of applique or piecing I want to really stand out I will use poly. It is much lighter and makes the quilting more noticable. I will admit I purchase most of my batting on sale or with coupons. I have a decent stash.

I thank you all. I have never tried the Warm & Natural, so I think that it will be my next purchase. I noticed on their site that there is also a White & Natural. I'm guessing that this is because of the color, one white and one off-white. I use a LOT of white in my quilts so I don't know if the off-white would change the white in the tops. Thanks again, Pam

Not all hand quilters like Warm n Natural. It is needlepunched through a scrim. It is a tougher to push a needle through scrim. Quilters Dream cotton batting is needlepunched, but not through a scrim, so it is easier to needle.

I find that Warm and Natural gets softer and easier to stitch after it has been preshrunk

Batting for hand quilting: I use and have used since I started quilted 46 plus years ago, Soft n Crafty hight or low loft polyester batting which is made by Fairfield and sold at JoAnn's in a bag. The quilts I did (see my avatar) are just as beautiful today as the day I made them. As a hand quilter who does NOT use a hoop or frame, I love my quilts to have a poof or puff to them and NOT be flat and this batting gives that to me. I have tried using a hoop and it caused havoc with my arms and shoulders. I now pin baste and then hand baste 2 - 3 inches apart top to bottom and cross wise and this works well but does take time but the reward is that I can take my works in progress with me to work on anywhere - quilt chapter meetings and a Happy Stitchers group that allows anything that uses a needed.

The ladies in my quilt chapter highly tout the warm and natural as THE BEST and that's all that they will use but they are machine quilters. At a recent guild meeting, the speaker is both a machine and hand quilter and she says warm and natural for machine quilting and the polyester battings for hand quilting which really surprised me.

My children and grandchildren tell me they love to cuddle up with their grammy quilts.

Wow,

How many different kinds of batting is there?

Karen

Karen,
There are many battings available and at a variety of costs. The ladies in my quilt chapter really frowned on my using the polyester but that's what I started with years ago and still prefer today but then, I've not tested any others. Why change if the results I get are what I want. The ladies in my quilt chapter are testing all of the new ones out and love the bamboo and there is another new fiber out. When I started my first quilt 46 years ago, we couldn't find quilt batting anywhere. We even drove to nearby Peoria, IL and they had no clue how I could get my hands on quilt batting and I was told to use a blanket for the inside of my quilt. Tried that and that's why it took me 38 years to complete the quilt that's in my avatar. The blanket showed through and it was the ugliest quilt on the planet. Eventually through a snail catalogues it was possible to order a variety of quilt supplies as quilting once again became more popular but back then in rural, small town IL, quilt supplies were hard to find. I can see why the machine quilters prefer the cotton batting as it does lie flatter and for those who do free motion, that's better than the puffy polyester. The day I went for my free class on the Pfaff, I took a section I'd prepared for the teacher to use and I quickly noticed that the puffiness was a problem for her but even so, she made my Pfaff sit up and take notice - of course she should as it's her job. Next time you go fabric shopping, check out the different battings available. It's truly amazing. At Joann's, in addition to the variety they sell on rolls by the yard that have to be cut, in another location are bins full of several other battings including some with adhesive that you place between the fabric and press so you don't have to baste. I believe that isn't recommended for hand quilting but could be wrong on that but for some reason, that sticks in my mind.

If you don't live near a quilt shop, got to JoAnn's online and do a search for batting and see what comes up. I've never lived close enough to quilt shops to use them. I used to buy at kmart way back when and later at walmart but the walmart closest to me no longer carries fabrics so it's JoAnn's. There are a 3 quilt shops with in an hour of me but I avoid driving outside of The Villages - too much traffic.

Hi Grammypatty7,

Thanks again for all of the information on batting. I sure appreciate it.

Happy Quilting!

Karen

Since I retired I have been going through my material and I have around 62 yards of wool.. what to do with.. I used it to make skirts and Suit Jackets, dresses. Don't need much of them now that I'am home.. Any ideas anyone...

I like the Quilters Dream. It is soft and very flexible and needles nicely. You might ask some of your quilting friends to save you some scraps of different battings they use and just make little sandwiches to practice on before you make that commitment on a large quilt and then you are stuck with something that may not be easy to hand quilt.

Hi Pam,

I use Warm and Natural. But I think it would really depend on the project you are doing. Some time you may want a fluffier look.

Cindy in Kansas

I usually use Warm and Natural cotton. I am working on a whole cloth now, and I decided to try wool. I LOVE it!! Its expensive, but, WOW it needles so easily and has great loft.

I really learn a lot reading all the posts and so many people have so much knowledge. Thanks to everybody. I have used Warm & Natural, or White to hand quilt and it works great. I have tried Heirloom, seems lumpy to me. I have tried polyester but it takes a long, long time to quilt even a lap sized quilt and by the time I'm finished, the polyester seems to separate around the edges. I guess I could hand baste right along the sides of my quilt, but after pin basting, I don't really want to baste any more, I'm ready to quilt!
I have never tried wool batting. Can you wash it without shrinking? :?:

The package (Hobbs Heirloom Wool) says its washable and will not shrink. It gives detailed instructions on how to wash. I will get back to you, after I finish the quilt and wash it!!!

I'm working with wool right now and am loving it. Hobbs Heirloom Wool, my needle flies through it, it gives a lovely soft drape and has a good thick loft to show off your quilting.

Thank you so much for all of the advice and opinions, I
learn something new every time I check here.
MaryAlice, I just finished a whole-cloth quilt and I used Hobbs Heirloom Wool. It is wonderful. It needles so nicely. The quilt was white and so after several months in the frame I had to wash it and the wool batting was just like new. I think you will be pleased with the results. Even though the wool is expensive, for a "special" piece, it is well worth is. Pam

The wool batting I used was pre-washed so that it would not shrink. And I agree, for a special piece it is well worth it. It makes hand quilting a pleasure, not a chors.

My mother made the best quilts out of wool. Most of her wool tho was harvested from soldiers uniforms and other used (from clothing) wool. She used cotton as the batting and tied the quilts as opposed to quilting them. In the summer time she would have us take them out and hang them on the clothes lines to air and sun for a day. We lived in So. Indiana and the quilts would smell so fresh when we took them in.

I have used a LOT of Warm & Natural and Warm and White. Am in the process of doing a lot of hand quilting on a large quilt and am sorry that I used the Warm & Natural in it. If I had to do it again I would use wool or Dream Cotton. W&N is hard to hand quilt and it makes a large quilt VERY heavy. That's called live and learn.