I have always been a "Warm and Natural" kind of gal! Batting, I mean! I was at a fabric shop the other day and discovered Bamboo and also cotton and polyester. The price difference on the cotton/polyester is like night and day and understanding the width is only 45, I am wondering, is it a good thing for quilts? Why is it less expensive (other than my thought of the fact that it isn't 100% cotton). Is it used for quilting or other crafty stuff and shouldn't be used for quilting. Is it strong? Is it weak? What is the difference between the two. Explain the bamboo!

I am one of these "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I have never used anything else other than W&N since I started quilting over ten years ago. But, you can always teach an old dog new tricks.

Thanks so much!

Edie

Different quilters prefer different battings. Also, different uses call for different battings.

I make mostly quilts to be used; I stopped using Warm n Natural when I realized its drape is stiffer than other cotton batts. It would be my first choice for a wallhanging, though, because of its stability.

I like the look and longevity of antique quilts with cotton batting, so I use the very traditional Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon 100% cotton batting in almost all of my quilts now. The most I will go on the polyester side is Hobbs 80/20 (80% cotton/20% polyester) and only in that brand. In my experience, polyester is more prone to bearding and turning into little balls with heavy use, although this probably depends a lot on the specific brand of batting. One bad experience was enough to turn me off on polyester.

I am not tempted to use bamboo because I have read that the chemicals used to process the bamboo are very toxic, even though bamboo is touted as being an environmentally friendly and renewable resource.

I used the bamboo batting on a baby quilt once. It was very easy to quilt through but since it was a shower gift for my sister's friend, I have no idea how it's holding up.

I only use Warm and Natural for all my projects because I prefer natural fibers.

Here are some other threads that talk about bamboo.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-6441-1.htm
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-21734-1.htm
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-22303-1.htm
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-33882-1.htm this one talks about the toxic chemicals
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-35980-1.htm

I got all those links by doing a search for "bamboo". There are more threads than this.

Someone the other day was having issues with bearding on a quilt. Others who posted on that thread seemed to think that a cotton/poly blend was more prone to bearding. I personally don't know. I bought some of the bamboo the other day, but I haven't used it yet. After reading about the chemical issue, maybe I won't. It's for a baby quilt, and I don't want anything not safe for a baby. I may save it and use it for table toppers or something like that.

I don't think there are toxic chemicals in the bamboo batting. The toxic chemicals are used in the early stages of processing the bamboo. It is the workers who are exposed to those chemicals.

I am getting back into quilting after a "break" of about 20 years! My question: how is the cotton batting for hand quilting? Years ago it was considered to be okay for machine quilting but too difficult to hand quilt with. Any opinions?

I use Warm and Natural or Warm and White because I like how it feels. Maybe my drape is not an issue because so far it's only quilted SID. Unless the message comes across that a new batting is better than sliced bread, I won't be tempted to venture away from what I have. Sorry - not much help on the Bamboo question or the hand quilting.

When I am making my Trapunto quilts I like to use cotton/poly for the trapunto area. After I cut the excess away and make my sandwich, I use warm and natural for the all over quilting.

I have used both. I like warm and natural best but the quilts I have made with poly are holding up just fine. One was for my DGD and is washed often.

i LOVE quilting with dream poly...it has a wonderful drape, is strong, does not pull apart easily. the bamboo's are a little contraversial, some people say they are ecologically more friendly, some people claim the opposite, to work with them though...they are nice, and the quilt i used a bamboo batt in was for a child and has held up well so far with lots of wear & tear and washings. there is also
green batt...made from recycled plastic bottles...supposed to be the same material as micro-fleece...which is very warm...easy to quilt also (only downfall i know of is...its green) but by all means my new (i also used w&n for years) is wool batting...OMG!!! it is wonderful to work with, lofty, needles beautifully...only downfall...price. it is a bit of the high end...but for kids quilts, any quilts i expect to be used and washed alot...the poly's are the way to go, they are less expensive, hold up well. but as with everything not all are created equal. the poly's do not 'breath' like a natural fiber, like cotton or wool, i don't know about the bamboo...the jury is still out on that one...