What batting should I use for my Marimekko quilt?
 

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All I lack is adding my strips as the border and I am ready to sandwich my quilt! It is not perfect in any shape or form. I've learned more about what not to do than what to do. Thank the Good Lord my daughter loves the imperfect me and will treasure this imperfect quilt.

The quilt top is a bit heavier than normal because the Marimekko fabrics I chose were of a heavier weight. I hope once I wash the quilt it will be a little softer. Right now there is a lot of starch.

My daughter would have preferred Minky on the back, but I didn't want to piece the backing, so I purchased some wide flannel from www.sewbatik.com. It is lovely and will be soft.

What batting should I use? The quilt turned out to be 98x98, so it will be heavy simply because of the size and the flannel, so I want the lightest weight possible. And because we are in Texas, it needs to be as cool as possible.

Suggestions, please? Quilter's Dream wool is what I lean to based on what I have read so far.

Thanks in advance?

Janan

try quilters dream cotton. their blue lable is called request and it is the thinist

http://www.missouriquiltco.com/shop/...m09BoCtqTw_wcB

You put a lot of sweat and tears in this quilt so I would stick with a premium batting such as Quilter's Dream cotton. They have great customer service so you just might want send an email with what you need along with a photo of the quilt and see what they say.

My suggestion would be Hobbs wool. It has enough loft that the quilting stitches will show, but is light in weight. I would choose Hobbs over Quilter's Dream mainly because someone on the QB had problems with bearding using the QD wool. If I can find that thread, I will post it here.

Cotton is relatively heavy. If you go with a really thin cotton it will be light in weight, but you will get very little loft (and a relatively flat result after quilting). Cotton batting does become very soft with repeated washings, and that softness is wonderful. If the flat look is okay for you (and it is consistent with the modern look of your quilt top), the QD cotton. Request is their thinnest, lightest weight. Here is a link:
http://www.quiltersdreambatting.com/dream-cotton.htm

You can get loft and lightness of weight in a polyester batting also. However, polyester doesn't "breathe" which means it can trap heat and moisture. Wool and cotton both breathe, making them suitable for both warm and cold climates.

I too would go with wool. Wool batting scare lightweight, breath, a dream to work with ( Hobbs and dream wool are both wonderful) cotton tends to be heavy even when thin. My ( summer) quilt has dream wool batting and a flannel back- it is not too heavy or too warm.

I think your plan to use Quilter's Dream wool is a good one, for all the reasons that ckcowl gave.

I love the quilt, by the way. It's so happy! :) That pattern is perfect - the white offsets all those bright, colorful prints.

Found the link to the thread about QD wool bearding:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...m-t222212.html

I can't offer an opinion on the weights of various battings, but I can offer some thoughts on the eventual appearance of the quilt after it is washed ...decide if you like, or do NOT like, the "crinkly" look. I do not like it, although lots of people do.

I bought small packages of about 8 different bats, and did sample sandwiches of roughly a fat quarter each. This also gave me a whole lot of chances to practice my free motion technique, and also binding methods. I am still working on these sandwiches, but I have learned that cotton batting (both 100% cotton and cotton/poly blends) crinkle way too much for my taste.

I am currently working on sandwiches by Quilter's Dream...one is the recycled plastic bottle version ("Green" I think it is called) and another is with their puffiest polyester, ("Puff"). Both are supposed to shrink and crinkle very, very, little if at all. We shall see!

These sandwiches are also giving me the chance to experiment with all the fancy stitches on my machine and also different threads, including 12 weight thread, which I really like. The whole experimentation process has been very informative, educational, and freeing. I have "allowed" myself to risk making mistakes, which I would never have done on a real quilt top. I have learned enough to realize that I am now aware of some things that would have probably caused big headaches down the road.

The tricky part is keeping track of which batting I have used in each. I started out with written notes, but quickly switched to using the built in alphabet on my machine to actually write the name of the batting into each sandwich. Eventually I suspect they will all end up as cat beds.

I'm just anxious to see it finished and what your decision was. Good Luck!

I vote wool, too--it breaths well so always the right temp despite weather, it is a dream to work with, it has nice loft but without weight, and don't worry about the bat showing through the white--I used Hobbs wool on a modern quilt like this with 1/2 of it being a white negative space area--was a little worried that the natural color of the wool would show through--no problem at all with that.
Lovely quilt!

Are you planning to long-arm it? If not, I'd definitely recommend the thinnest Quilter's Dream cotton. I switched to the one just one step up (select?) last time and noticed a definite difference in the weight and thickness of the sandwiched quilt. It was a lot harder to get it through my DSM. At least, in that case.

Hugs,
charlotte

Very interesting thread, Prism99. Thank you!

I will be quilting it on my machine.[ATTACH=CONFIG]554074[/ATTACH]

The butterfly on the white squares
Loops and loopy hearts everywhere else, although I may change this to simple stippling. And I'm not sure where "everywhere else" should actually be. Yikes?
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BTW, this is my first time FMQ a motif. Also my first time such a big quilt.

Quite a challenge, huh! I will be doing a lot of practicing before I actually start the real thing, so advice is welcome!

I sent an email to Quilter's dream with pictures and asked their advice. I am leaning on the thinnest cotton, since my backing is dark in color I am afraid of the wool bearding. I'm allergic to wool myself and hate to have it against my flesh.

Great posts! I've never heard of bearding, nor used wool, so good reading.

I was going to agree with the suggestion of wool, since one of your concerns is the weight of the quilt. Wool batting has the most loft, which means air, so it will make the quilt feel lighter than a cotton bat would. But the bearding is a concern if the backing is dark, so maybe Quilter's Dream Cotton would be the way to go, unless you would consider changing the backing to a lighter color. I think the quilt is beautiful, as is your quilted butterfly!

That is beautiful. I have never heard of those fabrics, but they go so well with stark white.

Many summer weight quilts do not have batting, or maybe flannel??

Wow. I love this quilt. If there are imperfections, I can't see 'em.

A lot of people are suggesting Dream Wool, which would be lovely--I agree. But, have you considered Dream Orient? It's a little pricey, especially for a bigger quilt, but I've used it and lot it. It's lightweight and silk is cool in the summer and warm in cold weather. I used to swear by Dream Wool and still use it a lot, but I prefer silk now. The softness and drape is just exquisite.

Hi,
No suggestion on the batting but what pattern did you use to make this quilt? It is very nice!

I have used Wool and Bamboo. Bamboo would be another cool, lightweight option. I live in LV and made a quilt for our bed with 2 batts: one wool and one bamboo. It is very light. It didn't crinkle, either.

I just want to say that I think your quilt is wonderful. I also have made several quilts from Marimekko scraps, but I think yours is prettier. Very nice work.

VMRooks, I didn't have a pattern, but I used the quilt in the picture as my inspiration. I just watched a a tutorial on how to make a disappearing four patch and found the butterfly motif on Pinterest.

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Janan, thank you! Love it that you were able to spot a picture and build your quilt from that inspiration.

I second bamboo! Very soft and lightweight!

If you use flannel, be sure to wash the flannel first and dry it, as flannel will shrink, sometimes a lot. I love your quilt. Good luck.

Thank you all for your suggestions! I decided on Quilters Dream Orient and ordered it. It should be here Thursday! I'm working on the border now, so hopefully this weekend I can build my sandwich! Pictures soon!