Warm & Natural batting - quilt is so thin after a year!
 

I haven't finished many quilts, only four... and three of those are rarely used. The one that has been washed many times over is the last quilt I made, which I gave to a friend when she had a little boy. When I gave it to her, I told her I meant for it to be used and she definitely has! I was at their house today for the little boy's first birthday party and I happened to see the quilt laying across the banister when I ducked upstairs to change my own little girl's diaper.

It is so thin! It started out thin anyway, but now it is so thin you would hardly know it had batting in it. I used a crib sized package of cotton Warm and Natural, that I think I bought at Joann. The stitching, fabric, and binding have all held up beautifully at least. Well, the fabric has faded a tad but maybe that is just because I pulled most of it from the "organic" shelf at the quilt shop.

So help me out... did I go wrong? Is the batting at the chain shops lower quality even though it is the same brand as at the LQS? Should I always be using more than one layer of batting? I have been thinking I want to try a couple layers of batting in my next quilt, which I will hopefully be quilting in a few weeks, but that was just because I wanted the quilting to pop more. I definitely want my quilts to stand up over time, and to be warm. It had never occurred to me a year of frequent washing would do that to the batting.

And now I have just realized it has been a year since I finished a quilt. Sigh. Do the 5 UFOs help mitigate that at all??

Cotton batting softens with every washing. That is one of its most endearing characteristics.

I am wondering if your expectations are more along the lines of modern puffy comforters than traditional quilts. Have you ever handled vintage quilts? They were all made with cotton batting, and all would be considered "thin" along the lines you describe. So it seems to me that the baby quilt you made is responding to use as I would have expected.

If you want a puffier quilt, then you may want to try a polyester batting such as Hobbs PolyDown. One advantage of poly over cotton batting is that the quilt will dry much faster (and will be puffier, similar to modern comforters).

Some people do double up Warm and Natural, or use a layer of W&N with a layer of polyester batting on top to add puff. The problem with two layers of W&N, especially in a large quilt, is that the quilt will become quite heavy. Some people like heavy quilts, but many do not. Aside from being heavy on top of you when you sleep, they can become quite difficult to handle because of the weight, especially when wet. Two layers of poly would be very puffy, but also very difficult to quilt.

I doubt that the fabric fading is due to organic fabrics. All cotton fabrics fade with exposure to light as well as to washing. In fact, fabrics are "fade rated" in terms of number of hours. I haven't checked in a long time, but I believe an industry standard of colorfastness is something like 70 hours of exposure to light these days.

The first quilt I ever made was a baby quilt using traditional cotton batting. I had the opportunity to see it about 20 years later. Knowing the mother, it had been washed and dried on hot many times. The binding was frayed and the fabrics were faded, but the quilt was still much loved and soft as a cloud to the touch. The owner used it on special occasions for newborn cousins.

I can't compare the Warm and Natural I get at JoAnns with a quilt store. I buy mine at JoAnns. It holds up just fine and is very warm. I have one on my bed made with Warm and Natural that has been on there for several years. And it is washed often. The appearance is thin. But, that's how it looked when I quilted it.

I don't know if the quality is thinner at places like Joannes but I have always used warm and natural I usually buy a bolt of it at a time.

I think it's a misconception people have, who are unfamiliar with traditional quilts, that they're meant to be puffy (more like a comforter). The only quilt I had experience with until I started quilting was one made for us many years ago. I took it to be typical, but it was made with polyester batting and quilted only in the ditch around very large pieces. It was very airy and puffy. You can imagine my surprise when I finished my first quilt made with Warm and Natural, and found it to be very flat, stiff and heavy. I have since found that wool batting will give an airier, puffier, lighter weight feel than Warm and Natural. I haven't tried any of the 100% cotton battings yet. Warm and Natural is cotton with a polyester scrim.

How wonderful for you to see the quilt has been loved and used! Sounds like your quilt gift was a huge success! Maybe you could make him another "big boy" quilt now? I am a fairly new quilter and don't have any experience with a 'well used' quilt for guidance, but nice to see your gift is loved.

My family likes heavy quilts, none of the light as air ones. For those quilts I use cotton batting between to layers of flannel. I buy white and brown (or any dark) flannel by the bolt when on sale. I wash the flannel in hot water and dry in hot dryer before using. For a really lightweight quilt I use one layer of flannel for the batting. This works for a tablecloth quilt, or any quilt you want to have drape.

I like the W & N because it is easy to handquilt thru & yes it is flatter but I like that also! Different batts for different folks!

Down here, we mostly like thinner quilts because we have so much summer. Putting 2 or 3 quilts on the bed makes more sense than having one really thick one we can only use for a few weeks. All my beds have quilts on them all year round and most are filled with W&N. I have used the Hobbs a couple of times and eventually it is as flat as the W&N which suits our lifestyle perfectly. If I was making a quilt for someone who lived in the northern states or Alaska, I would probably double up on any batting I used or use blankets inside as one of the layers. I like that the W&N quilts aren't so heavy that you can't work with them. I don't like that it takes so long to dry a really big one.

I like a quilt to be just a bit loftier and warmer so I use two layers one Warm and Natural and one thin layer of poly. The two layers give the quilting much more definition.

I add these thoughts with the wonderful posts above to consider. There are many variables to why the batting seems thin,especially since you said the stitching,ect held up beautifully. Consider her methods of cleaning the quilt. The detergents alone can break down fibers,(and fade fabric colors) her temperature, her machine itself, the water itself. Well water with higher concentrations of specific minerals, city water with chemicals added.How often she washed the quilt in these factors. The same batting,the same way you quilt the others will do different at the other people's homes/habits that you make for them. As for the 5 UFO's counting for not doing any quilting in a year...it only counts if you've done something in some way as I have at times...take them out,move them around, think about it such as "I really need to quilt..blah,blah".Flipped them over to get to something else, Prop something else on the stack such as a book,magazines. LOL. If they only been stuck in closet not even thought about...then the answer is no, don't count.Ha!

Has anybody quilted with Warm & Plush? I would love to see some pictures that compare the look of quilts with Warm & Plush vs Warm & Natural. Can anyone help with that?

I was just looking at the warm and natural site and saw the Warm & Plush as well. It says it is 6 oz and the warm and natural I have is 4 oz, so it should give a little more loft. I do notice the batting seems much thinner now than when I started using it in the late 90's. http://www.warmcompany.com/warm-and-plush.html

I never cared for the flat look you get with W&N. I like a little fluffiness with my quilts so I have always used Hobbs 80/20. If I was making a quilt with fabrics that looked old, I would probably used W&N for that quilt.

I had a queen quilt longarmed by a friend about 7 years ago. She used W&N batting and that thing is so dang heavy it's hard for me to hold up long enough to fold it!! It has been washed a dew times but still feels stiffer than other of my quilts in which I have used Hobbs 80/20 or Quilters Dream Select. I don't use W&N now for bed quilts if i can help it.

Jan in VA

I love Warm and Natural. It is the only batting I will use in any quilt big or small. I am not a fluffy person, I guess.

My very first quilt I kept for myself is about 22 years old and well-loved (read washed often). It has W&N as batting and it is so pliable that it conforms to my body or the cat quite nicely. It is also nice and warm. The only thing wrong with the quilt is that the binding is getting threadbare.

I have heard that polyester batting in baby quilts is a no no because if there is a fire the batting will melt and may injure the child. When we make charity quilts we always use cotton batting.

I pre wash my batting when I don't want the crinkled look and with W&N it would almost shred afterward. I now use Quilters Dream and I don't have that problem anymore.

We use two quilts on our bed. One thicker "comforter" type, and one thinner machine quilted one. In the summer only the thin one is on; in the spring and fall, we put the comforter on; and in the dead of winter (which is sometimes five or six months here in Wisconsin) they are both on the bed.
I also have an afghan I made 30 years ago with worsted weight wool yarn in afghan stitch (so it is really heavy) that I can put on when I'm chilled. Sometimes I get that way, and I can't sleep when I'm cold.

Thanks for all the feedback! Does anyone know of a site that compares quilts with different battings? I will have to google...

I have a king size quilt that I will be quilting soon, my first attempt on a long arm. I will have to research a bit, but I think I will try out an 80/20, or maybe doubling up a poly and a cotton. I like heavier quilts, not really enjoying the flat look of the four quilts I have completed using just a cotton batting. I think three of them are Quilter's Dream and then of course there is the W&N one I wrote about here.

I just finished a quilt yesterday with the Warm and Plush. I will post a pic today. It hasn't been washed yet but it does seem to have more pouf than the traditional W & N.

I just ordered a queen sized Warm and Plush from Amazon...this is why I LOVE this board!! I wouldn't have given this a try without all the discussion. I always learn something from the Quilting Board.

I am making a quilt with Warm and Plush. It's really nice. My longarmer loved working with it too. It is made by the same company and is quite a bit thicker. I'll post after I get the binding on. The quilting really shows up.

I totally agree. When you get to see it being used by the recipients and not for a mechanic drape on a car or truck. It's a little thin. Maybe it is just much more relaxed (softer) from use.