Natural wool fleece batting - sheep, llama, alpaca
 

Before I retired my hobby fiber farm, I took all of the fleece (sheep, llama, alpaca) that was not spin-worthy and had it made into wool batts. 14 bags later....

At any rate, I have had one lap quilt quilted with the wool batt. It hasn't been cold enough yet to use it.

For those of you who have used natural wool fleece batts, I'd like your opinions and experiences with wool fleece. The quilter used one layer of batting width of quilt x length of quilt. My concern is with bunching over time (felted pieces).

I'm wondering if one layer should be horizontal and the other layer vertical to the quilts to allow the fibers to lock as they are quilted. The batt itself is quite light so it wouldn't end up like a comforter.

Thanks!

In college I had a good friend whose family raised sheep. They always had some of their wool carded for batting each year & it made beautiful quilts. The carding process they used alternated horizontal & vertical run fibers so she and her mom & aunt would always just use a single layer of wool that was either tied or stitched together with roughly 1.5" spacing. You can't stitch as far apart with carded wool as with commercial products. I know some people who will needle punch it (either by machine or mechanically) in order to make it more stable, but I personally love the look & feel of simple carded wool.

Those quilts were not washed more than once or twice a year, and usually they were line dried on a warm, partly sunny day after being washed on the gentle cycle in cold water with Orvus soap. I'm saving up to buy a carded wool batting to make myself a queen sized quilt for my bed. It is just the most luxurious product I've ever seen. Assuming the person who made your batts did them the same way as my friend's were made, I think you'd actually have less bunching with a single layer of batting than with multiple layers.

The only thing I've heard is that the quilting lines need to be very, very close. There is a small farm that raises sheep near me. I've considered a carded batt, probably worth it, but very expensive.

Rotating two thin layers is a sound idea.

Quite a few videos about carding wool. Interesting process.

Thank you so much for the information. Unfortunately the spacing on my quilt was farther apart. However, I can "requilt" it to secure the batt......older and wiser. [sigh] I was thinking of cleaning it in the snow to a avoid machine washing.

Wait - what? How do you clean a quilt in the snow? Inquiring minds want to know...

First put your (dry, room temp) quilt in the dryer on * AIR only * for about 20 minutes. This will help get some of the dander off the quilt (especially if you have cats or dogs that share your quilt).

Then shake your quilt outside to remove any remaining loose dander. Place your quilt in clean freshly fallen snow. Let it lay in the snow for about 15 minutes. Shake the snow off the quilt, turn it over and place it in the another clean area of snow for 15 minutes and then shake the quilt. If it's a sunny day, hang it out to freshen.