When I first started quilting I used poly then I was introduced to warm and Natural and fell in love.
I am taking a class and they gave us some quilters dream and now I love it.
It is quite expensive so don't know if I will switch but I love it. :-)

I use and have used all kinds of batting. I use polly for children quilts or any othter quilt I expect to get a lot of wear and washing. I also like the look it gives the actual quilting on some items. Since I have issues with my muscles the lighter weight is often a consideration. I like the bamboo batting also. I save my coupons to purchase batting.

I almost always use cotton Warm and Natural or White and Natural or a cotton blend 80/20 Hobbs. Sometimes I feel a quilt needs polly. So most of the quilts in my home are cotton batting but the few that are polly are the most loved by my children. The last polly bat quilt I did was for a baby. He was very small at birth and the Warm and Natural cotton just seemed it would be heavy. I much prefer to machine quilt cotton bat quilts over polly bat though. For hand quilting I like the polly. For our family the Warm and Natural cotton wears much better then the polly batting but it probably has to do with the brand polly batting I use.

Ok I am as confused as ever now. I am second guesing all the batting I have used over the years, and am wondering if the ones I have used as gifts will make it through the years, or if people now are saying that they hate the quilts I made them because they are falling apart. Oh my the choices us quilters have to make.

Thankfully all the quilts except 2 I made for my family...

I can't be the only one with this problem but just handling any brand of polyester batting is very uncomfortable, it so so irritating to my hands, I feel like I'm getting a zillion little cuts & it is catching on my skin. I can't even try on a polyester blouse in a dept store, the minute it is on I feel suffocated.
It must be some type of phobia but is why I always use cotton even though for some projects I would like a lighter weight.
Maire

Honestly, I think there are a lot of things to like about both poly and cotton.

I've used both. And down here in South Texas, I've found that the cotton batting 'feels' too hot, while the poly batting 'feels' like it is lighter and not so warm. Since we certainly don't need a lot of quilts to capture the warmth like we would in a more northern climate, I tend to use poly more frequently. I've never had trouble with it bearding, and I done both hand and machine quilting. Maybe that depends on what brand you use?

Have any of you tried the Bamboo batting. It hand quilts smooth as butter. I usually use the Warm and Natural though as the bamboo is pretty expensive.

I've only used polyester. It's a cost issue for me. If I could only use cotton, I wouldn't be able to quilt because I can't afford it.

I buy poly batting by the 30 yard roll. It is cheaper for me. I make a lot of quilts for charities and giving away as gifts. I can't afford to use the more expensive battings. I like the puffyness of it and haven't had any issues with bearding.

I was also wondering about the bamboo batting. It looks and feels like cotton. I guess I'm partial to cotton because my mom's family were cotton farmers.