I absolutely have fallen in love with quilting. This forum is the most wonderful haven for me to come to and trust me I am here reading and looking every day. However I am still a beginner. Is it the batting? My question is simple how do I make the end result fluffy, and more squishy for lack of a better word instead of stiff...? All suggestions and thoughts are welcome! Merry Christmas and Blessings to all!

High loft batting with less quilting.

yes - what leatheflea said......

The same as others are saying, 'high loft polyester batting and less quilting'. Cotton and cotton/poly blend will not give you a soft, fluffy look, especially if there is lots of quilting. Use a high loft polyester, it is sometimes hard to find a high loft and if you can't find high loft layer 2 thinner ones. Also, if you tie rather than quilt it gives the batting more room to expand. But some people don't like to tie, in that case use the least amount of quilting recomended for that batting.

Longarm

Ditto

Check the quilting requirements for the batting, you want to buy some with the least amount required :D:D:D

Completely agree !!

Are you looking for the commercial comforter type of look and feel? That is a more modern look and, as others have indicated, high loft polyester batting with minimal quilting will give that effect.

Traditional quilts have a look and feel that is quite different from the above. Traditionally the batting was 100% cotton. This kind of quilt is thin by today's "comforter" standard; however, this kind of batting becomes softer with every wash so traditional quilts end up being very soft and "comforting" in a different way. They would not be stiff. Things that can make a quilt stiffer are lots of close machine quilting (especially with regular thread instead of fine thread) and battings that are needlepunched through scrim (such as Warm n Natural).

I found your reply to be very helpful to me. Thank you!

If you have to have cotton batting then I would hand quilt. Machine quilting seems too stiff for me which could have something to do with tension and the way the stitches are formed.

I made my husband one with double high loft batting. Only quilted in the ditch and he loves it. He did not want one that was just flat. on the other hand the one on my bed was also double batting and that one is not as squishy. Good luck Beth

The change in the quilt once washed will make it soft and give that old fashion quilting look. I wash my quilts in cold water, gentle cycle and then hang to partially dry, then pop into the dryer to get it nice and soft and "fluff" it.

I use Hobbs Polydown batting and machine quilt it. My quilts are never really flat and all have a slightly puffy look. The quilts I make using Warm and Natural are much flatter and stiffer. The Polydown batting is not as thick as Hi-loft batting but I think it is puffy enough and is still easy to machine quilt or tie. It can be quilted 8'-10" apart and washes and machine dries very well. It's my batting of choice for any quilt that is going to get a lot of wash and wear.

Use wool batting and don't quilt so tightly. I'd say no closer than about 3-4 inches which is fine with today's batting.

uSE a high loft batting and dont quilt closely.

High loft batting and maybe tie it instead of quilting it. I'd tie about every 6" all over.

most batting will (fluff) a bit when washed after you finish your quilt. cottons and wool batts fluff the best.
the heavier the quilting (density) the stiffer the quilt will be. some people quilt very heavily and use the thinnest batting they can find because they want their quilt to be flat...stiff....
others (like me...and you) want the quilts to be fluffy and warm...warm & natural fluffs up nicely and can be quilted up to 10" apart...the less quilting the more area there is to fluff.
flannel fabrics also wash up soft and fluffy

Ditto, Ditto

I have started using wool batting lately and love it, especially in larger quilts. It maintains it's loft and is soft and drapes beautifully. Poly batting will lose it's loft after a while leaving the quilt looking frumpy. Dream Wool (I think that's the name) can be quilted up to 10" apart. It's a bit more expensive (can't get it at Joann's with a 40% coupon) but when I have made a really nice quilt using good fabric it's worth it.

http://okleequilting.com/store/ I use this batting all the time. Mom and I once threw a 15 inch piece in the washing machine with blue jeans no covering on it just to see how it stood up. Did it several washing and it never lost it's shape. I believe I use the 6oz most of the time but have used the 8 oz for very warm and puffy quilt. Have to tie with the high loft stuff tho but that is what I do!!

I have used various battings and do hand quilting, so as a result, my quilts usually come out soft and comfy. I notice that the heavily machine quilted quilts seem to be able to almost stand up by themselves and I never could understand why they have to machine quilt themselves into such a frenzy of stitching. That is only my opinion, but hand quilting will never be stiff.Sometimes less is definitely better. Good luck!

I don't hand quilt, have a bad wrist, but I agree with you completely about quilting heavily. Less is definitely better. Read an article by a professional who said "Just because you can doesn't mean you should" when talking about the subject.

I quilted my first one about 2" apart and it's too stiff for me. So from now on I plan to go 3 or even 4 inches apart.

Amen. My favorite batt for this is Hobbs Poly-down. It has about a 3/8" loft, so not much, but really results in a warm, huggy quilt. Love it!

I have always prefer Hobbs 80/20 because there is more puff than W&N. I find that over-quilting may make a quilt stiff. But as Prism99 mentioned, there is a difference between a comforter and a quilt.

This is what I do. I love the soft feel of wool; it drapes beautifully. I only use it for adult quilts that are treated with respect though (baby quilts get cottons). Dream Wool batting can be washed and dried without any problem. My biggest problem is not over quilting since I love quilting much more than piecing!

Pam

I've had a few quilts professionally quilted and they lost their 'quiltiness'
when I hand quilt, they are nice and fluffy, but not all fluff.
Also, they are warmer hand quilted. Gives someplace for the air to stay and warm up.
I' had a professionally quilted quilt slide off the bed from being over quilted too.

This is a pet peeve of mine... flat quilts.... some decades ago when quilting came out of the closet and began to be enjoyed by tons of new learners... there came to be an attitude about how the finished quilt should look.... You will often hear from quilters that they want their quilts to look like 'grandma's'.... what they don't realize is that grandma's quilts didn't look flat till they had been washed a couple of dozen times (which meant 20 or 30 years)... their quilts were made for warmth and certainly were not what we see today in brand new quilts. The only batting for our grandmothers was cotton batting and they had to begin with a good 3/4" to end up with a decent layer of warmth. It had to be quilted closely and that flattened it a bit but still allowed for 'fluffiness' to show in between the lines of stitching..showing off the line shadows to display their quilting skill. My favorite batting is one layer of 80/20 with a very thin lay of poly on top of that. the cotton holds the shape of the quilt much better than soft squishy poly... and the 1/4" of poly on top allows your quilting sts to show beautifully and keep the 'fluff'. I take them off the wall and off the beds and fluff them in the dryer twice a year to remove dust and fluff them up. They look brand new after the dryer trip. Also... when you finish your first quilt... after it is bound... lay a clean sheet on the carpet where you can protect your quilt... layer it next and measure to square up and pin to the carpet every 3 or 4 inches... then spray liberally with plain water and leave for w or 3 days....to 'block'... it will look absolutely wonderful after this treatment and is well worth the effort. ***If you do not have a completely protected room to hide this in for a couple of days... then pin another clean king size sheet on top to protect from dog and cat hairs....

That's right...our grandmothers said.."the size of your fist" apart... they knew a bit about the properties of insulation.

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*** Yep! that is the answer. Hi-loft batting and less quilting.
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*** That is the way I like mine also.
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I agree with her totally. I only use wool batting and love how it looks and feels. I use to use 100% cotton but my quilts were stiff and very thin. Now, all my quilts with wool batting look lovely and feel wonderful.