I am hand quilting a wallhanging ( of course it's a christmas present) and used Warm & Natural cotton batting. It is just not going easy--my fingers are sore from pulling the needle through. My stitches are not consistent size either. I have used low loft poly batts for hand quilting and got along fine.

What do all of you handquilters use for batting?

Merry Christmas to everyone!!

chris

I use low loft poly, Quilters Dream in the lowest loft, and Blue Ribbon Cotton. I avoid battings like Warm and Natural.

If you can't change batting, try loosening the tension or a different needle. That might help.

I heard that John James Big Eye Golden Glide needles work great with Batiks because they are such a close weave.

You might give them a try. I don't know if it would make any difference with batting.

I like to use the Hobbs 80/20, Legacy 80/20 or cotton batting and Tuscany cotton batting. They are all wonderful to hand quilt and easy to needle. Wool is also a good choice.
As Janet already said I also avoid battings with a scrim. It's possible to quilt in bigger distances (not an option for me, I prefer dense quilting!) but they are also hard to needle.
Maybe it's okay for you to do a little longer stitches and only aim for eveness?!

Right now, I'm quilting Jane's Journey with Thermore batting. I have never seen such thin batting - it's polyester. I have quilted through the 100%cotton from the Tuscany Collection with no trouble, but I prefer to use a low loft polyester.

i use warm & natural and don't seem to be having a problem - I'm quilting Grandma's Flower Garden and i'm always quilting thru seams because of the hexagons!

The quilting group I go to also uses the warm & natural. I don't like the poly batting that joann's sells - it's too loose - odd description, but i don't like it because the needle falls thru and i can't get my rocking motion going for small stitches.

Try a new needle - I was beginning to have a hard time and changed the needle and it went thru like butter

I have used warm and natural and it went just fine. I have a small pair of pliers that I use to pull my needle when I can't get it with my finger. It works great! Dh had a small pair of needle nose pliers he gave me. Good luck!

Some like warm and natural and work with it fine. I just don't want the aggrivation of how it reacts. There are so many more choices for hand quilting. Best to try it on a very small piece before putting it into a larger piece.

I use W&N for everything including hand quilting and I don't have any problems. I have learned not to put so many stitches on a needle at once ( I use a size 10), and I use the rubber finger tips on one finger to help pull the needle through, I get those in the drug store. The uniform length on your stitches should should just be consistant, different bats do make different stitches sometimes.

I only hand quilt small items but when I do I use a platinum needles. They glide thru like butter.