Handquilters - Which do you prefer Hobbs 80/20 or Hobbs Cotton?
 

When I quilt my finished tops myself, I hand quilt. I've traditionally used Hobbs 80/20 for gifts and wool for myself or very special quilts. I'm wondering if there is a benefit to using the Hobbs 100% cotton instead of the 80/20?

What would be features you think are better about one or the other?

I probably won't be much help here. I use W&N 100% cotton. I personally prefer natural fibers particularly in quilts. And everyone that I've gifted the quilts to comment on how warm they are. I'd love to try silk batting at some point but it's really spendy and not locally available. Since I have a whole roll of W&N, it will probably be a while before I make my way to the silk. Have never tried Hobbs batting. Heard good things about it, just not readily available locally.

Check out this thread from yesterday. http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...n-t211879.html

Jan in VA

for hand quilting i like hobbs wool first, then the 100% cotton- then the 80/20- there isn't a whole lot of difference- really- other than the 100% cotton is not quite as (stable) as the 80/20---will pull apart easier---the 20% polyester in the 80/20 adds that little bit of stability-and loft- i prefer the 80/20 on really large projects for that reason- if it's a smaller project the 100% cotton is nice...both needle beautifully-
i do think the 80/20 has a little bit more loft (due to the polyester addition)
my favorite though is wool.
I do not like warm & natural at all for hand quilting- any batt with a scrim (a net the fibers are punched through) is more difficult to hand stitch. (and i kind of think it's funny- the people who claim to only use cotton & only use warm & natural...since the scrim is not cotton)

Hobbs Tuscany Wool batting is my preference. However, it doesn't come in white or at least I haven't been able to find it so for my white background tops I go to cotton. I think I used Dream Cotton. I have used silk, but for the money I much prefer wool. I have never used 80/20 in any brand. Whatever you choose, it depends on how closely you are going to be quilting and what drape you want. I suspect the 80/20 won't shrink as much as the all cotton. I bought a bundle of batting squares from Harriet Hargrave's web store. There are 14 or 16 (I think) 12 x 12 squares of different bats. I usually take one of those samples and hand quilt a small area to see how well that particular bat needles. I think it's Fairfield cotton that is absolutely sumptuous, but it doesn't come in large sizes. The only bat that I will never use again is polyester. I used Dream Poly in the quilt I'm working on now because I didn't want any shrinkage, but the bearding is bad and the drape is stiff.

Traditional Quilter: I have bought the Quilter's Dream wool for a quilt top that had a lot of white in it, it is lighter than the Hobbs, you might want to check it out. The Quilter's Dream website does give out samples.
Ev

The QD poly is definitely more dense and therefore "stiffer" than the older/original battings we were used to 20 years ago. And it makes a heavier quilt......to me similar to Warm and Natural.

Jan in VA