I use the blankets that they sell at Walmart for 7-10 it makes them nice but not so heavy you suffocate.

I made a queen sized quilt that came down low to cover the top
of the dustruffle. I used warm and natural. It is so heavy that we can't use it as a blanket.

I have some very heavy Dream batting. I think it is much warmer and thicker than Warm & Natural or Hobbs.

When I was growing up we had heavy quilts also. My mother made them out of wool scraps and used cotton batting. I can't even imagine where she got the scraps because we were quite poor. The quilts were very warm and usually we had 2 or 3 on our bed. When I was growing up we did not have a central heating system in our home so the bedrooms were cold. Kids now days don't appreciate the warm homes in the winter and air conditioning in the summer.

Be careful about heavy battings. In the first quilt I made, I chose a heavy, high loft batting, also looking for that "heavy quilt" feel. I got it quilted, and it's heavy. It's also stiff as a board even after repeated washing.

I LOVE your way of thinking.. These kids dont appreciate much of anything and expect everything. I just got finished making my son a quilt for his bed with a wolf panel... He loves it He was always complaining about how cold it is in our house. My comment Wear more clothes and some socks. We heat with propane and this winter the cost has about killed us so our furnace is on 61 on a good day..... LOL
Wish more kids appreciated the things they do have.

Our quilts were very heavy also when I was a child but they were made from woolen scraps and I doubt that there was batting in them The backs were all dark plaid flannel. We had many woolen mills in New Hampshire so I'm sure scraps were readily avaible and very economical. Not very pretty but very warm, we always had at least 2 on each bed and you couldn't lay on your back with your feet straight up---too heavy on the toes. LOL
The things we remember!!!!
Good luck, Kutnso

My laq suggested two layers of wool batting for warmth and weight. It turned out nice and it has good drape.

Great example of the variety of members on this board. I'm always looking for the very lightest quilt. I made my Mom a quilt using Warm and Natural batting and it's so heavy, she is now unable to use it as her bed cover because she has arthritis and can't lift the quilt at night to fold it back on her bed. I'm curious about the opposite: what batting makes the lightest quilt?

My daughter's MIL made a quilt for her first grand child. She is a tailor. She used shoulder pads to stuff the quilt. Guess she had removed many from altering clothing. My daughter hated the quilt because it was lumpy. But that is a case of using what you have.

wool batting is actualy lighter weight than cotton batting at least hobs wool is ligter its realy nice batting but maybee not what you whant for a heavy quilt you could make the top heveyer by using a decorator weight cotton as the backgrownd if your going to apliquay it there is another post somewere on here about a heavy quilt somone was longarming

I am making a DJ quilt. The blocks themselves seem heavy. I think it's because there are so many seams and so close together that the block is like two layers...the beautiful front and the seamy back.
Kind of like a bargello quilt top feels very heavy because of all the seams.

My mama's quilts were heavy and made with homemade cotton batting. Daddy farmed cotton and for each bale sold he would get a sample roll which was roughly six inches across and about 12-14 inches long. Mama would stretch the quilt back on her hanging frame, then pull the cotton out with her hands and make it into as even a layer as possible, however thick she wanted it. Then she would add the quilt top and baste it all together. The thicker the cotton layer inside, the heavier the quilt.

Our kids had some "fur" coats and someone gave me some fur scraps so I cut them up into squares and bricks and made a quilt out of that with a light batting and a double knit backing...Boy, that's the quilt you want when you come in from the cold and are chilled to the bone.

I would use an old blanket for the batting too make it heavier.

Yes, we are a varied group! I also don't like the heavy quilts. I've made a few and gave them away. Sometimes I didn't know what it was that made them heavy. Sometimes it is the backing fabric.
For the lightest weight quilts, use low loft poly batting or Hobbs wool batting. Use a cotton fabric for backing.

I don't think your memory is wrong about the weight of the quilt. I was talking to a young woman who just turned 50, who was asking me if I knew how to make the heavy quilts she grew up with. She said the were filled with cut up old clothers that were "strung together to make a batting that didn't shift". She was asking me if I knew how to do that, unfortunately I didn't.

use blanket for the batting I know they did that

I put double batting in a quilt once. I was way to heavy for anyone in my family. My sister in law wanted it. About a year later she told me she gave it to a homeless shelter. Too heavy for her! I had tied that quilt because there was no way to quilt it, it was just too thick.

Have you ever noticed the stitches in those very heavy quilts? Most of them, not so small and the quilts were a little lumpy in places. I have several of my grandmothers. Do yourself a favor and buy a chinese quilt if you want really heavy. I bought one and it was so heavy I couldn't sleep under it! I gave it to my sister, it's that all cotton thing...

They use what my grandma used old quilts or blankets that were well used but given new life in a new quilt!

I remember the same feeling of the big old heavy quilts but we were just little...that's all. I sure wouldn't make that Dear Jane quilt that way tho. just my opinion.you can't hand
quilt a thick heavy quilt and survive it!!!

I think the heavy one made by my Mother in law was pillow quilt stuff with old nylon panty hose.

we have a family dollar store in our area, and they sell nice blankets for $10.00 , each for king size and $6.00 for full, they make a nice heavy weiht to a quilt , and they work up nice too. hope it works for you ,

Oh my Gosh, some of you can really give me a belly laugh! Thanks

double layers of batting work but I used 3 layers on one quilt and I use it when I am sick and need to hold in the body heat!

that's what I was wondering...

My mother still has the quilt that my great-grandmother gave her as a wedding present in 1945, the double-ring design that gr-grandma hand quilted herself. My mother's family were cotton growers and mother told me that gr-grandma used their best "staple" cotton. And yes, it is heavy. There is a LQS in the owner's country home bult at the turn of the century (early 1900's) and on the wall in her cutting room hanging is also an antique quilt that was made with cotton batting.

My Mom used worn blankets as batting for tied quilts. But all said, I think you'd be better off making lighter weight blankets & double up on the bed. That's what I have. It makes for easier quilting, washing & drying.

I couldn't agree more...I have a 21 year old who is always cold, I tell him & my husband: "put a sweathshirt on"! I grew up in a cold house in northern midwest & we always had socks, sweaters & blankets around us when it was chilly weather. My husband is a Calif. native & has never lived where it's cold. They like to walk around in T-shirts & crank up the heat and AC. We have a regular "dualing thermostat" issue @ our house, as I pay the bills. It really does no good to have a programmable thermostat if everyone's just going around turning it up in winter & down in summer. It is set at a reasonable setting, just doesn't end up that way when the rest are home.

My grandma's old quilts (made in the 10's to the 30's) weren't that heavy, and seemed quite flat (not those mid-century puffy ones) but were wonderful to sleep under. I inherited 2 & feel very blessed!

I didn't read all the post, so sorry if it is repeated. I made a quilt out of minky and it was very heavy. Another was chenille and the last 2 types are denim and corduroy. These all have the weight behind them.

Tigger, Have you tried the Vermont Country Store for sheet blankets?
www.VermontCountryStore.com or 1-802-776-5710

They're 100% cotton, machine wash and dry. (#50595)

I wonder if you used an old comforter for batting if that wouldnt work..

i covered a quilt once and it turned out to be very heavy. try finding a good blanket , at home, or at a yard sale and try that.

i covered a quilt once and it turned out to be very heavy. try finding a good blanket , at home, or at a yard sale and try that.

I am thinking you might wish to tie it instead of handquiltling. I remember when I was little I had a heavy quilt too. Now the lighter the better for me! Happy quilting.

I remember an old eiderdown from my childhood- now THAT was heavy- it was a bit like being buried, but sooooo warm!

I have used 2 layers of batting and it does make a difference in the weight of a quilt. I did machine quilt it in straight lines, but I loved it this winter.

I love a heavy quilt, I have 3 quilts on my bed in the winter nice and cozy.

I have a very, very heavy quilt that is from Pottery Barn (though I paid $10 at a thrift store for use as dog bedding---but it's now mine!) The reason it's so heavy is that it's made of two layers of ticking-stripe heavy cotton, almost a canvas type fabric. Whatever you make for the top, maybe you could use this type of fabric for the backing????