lighter batting
 

Just finished a baby quilt, happy except a little to "stiff" is the only word I can think of. shall I just take flannel for the batting next time?

Thanks in advance for any help

Geraldine

Depends on the batting you used. I like the lighter of weight of Hobbs 80/20 over W&N. Did you heavily quilted the baby quilt? That can make any quilt stiffer. Hopefully with washing might just take the stiffness out.

I don't think you need to go to flannel instead of batting. I've heard that Quilter's Dream cotton batting has a nice drape. I'm currently basting a quilt with the Hobbs silk batting, and that seems extremely lightweight and fluid. Wool batting is much fluffier than cotton. As ManiacQ2 says, heavy quilting makes for a stiffer quilt.

Agree! Once I tried QD, I dropped W&N like a hot potato. It is soooo nice.

Thermore is an extremely thin batting, usually used for clothing. Another super batting is Dream Puff - very light and fluffy. However, these are both polyester. As others have said, it may just be the density of the quilting.

Polyester seems the lightest and fluffiest to me. It also seems to hold up well to lots of washings that a baby quilt often gets.

I like a poly blend with a medium loft for softness. Also the less quilting the softer the quilt (IMHO).

What Peckish said!

I usually use polyester for baby quilts. Being lighter makes it easier to move around when quilting on a regular sewing machine.

Quilters Dream even has a batting just for baby quilts. I think it is flame retardant, called Angel.
I once had a baby quilt that the person quilted way too much even after I told her I only wanted a large design on it. Don't think the mom ever used it - too stiff.

[QUOTE=briskgo;7146832]Just finished a baby quilt, happy except a little to "stiff" is the only word I can think of. shall I just take flannel for the batting next time?

Thanks in advance for any help

It depends on you. I like really lightweight batting for baby quilts and I love flannel because it dries so fast after the quilt is laundered. The only thing about flannel is that it is sometimes hard to find white solid. froggyintexas

www.fabric.com has lots of flannel in white.

I buy the very light weight fleece from walmart as batting for baby quilts. It creates a wonderful drape and is so lightweight.

All quilts I make are quilted on a frame/machine, so I don't know how well it would work when used to quilt any other way.