My cousin gave (yes GAVE) me a quilt top that she inherited from her sister. We know nothing about it, but I took it with me to my quilt guild meeting on Tuesday and the woman who was presenting the program that night is an expert on antique quilts/fabrics. She looked at my quilt top and said that one of the fabrics in it was a "centennial" fabric from 1876. She guessed that it was made somewhere between 1876 and 1900. I am just thrilled. I asked her about leaving it "as is" or quilting it. She said go ahead and hand quilt it, but use a very thin batting, hence my original question. What batting should I use?

Cotton. Please don't use polyester of any kind. It will spoil that treasure you have.
PLEASE post a pic!! Sounds fabulous!!! :D

You can use whatever batting you like. I would tend to use something like Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon 100% cotton to keep with tradition but this bat requires pretty close quilting (no less than 2" apart).

However, I think wool batting would be very nice as well.

You can also use an 80-20 blend like Hobbs Heirloom.

Any batting will be fine it is just what you like to work with when hand quilting and what you want the finished look to be like. A 100% cotton will give you that nice antique puckering after washing due to shrinkage.

I would probably use either Quilters Dream Request cotton or Hobbs wool. Both are thin battings and easy to hand needle.

I love Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon 100% cotton batting, and use it exclusively for my machine quilting, and it would be very compatible with the time period of your quilt top. However, it is harder to hand quilt than the other two battings.

You could use Mountain Mist White Rose or Cream Rose. It's thin, easy to needle and can be quilted up to 6" apart. It will also give you the antique look, and softness. It's my favorite brand. Hobby Lobby carries it. Watch for their online printable coupon. That's when I buy it, it is pricey.

Ack! If it has fabrics from 1876 I would NOT wash it! I would also have it appraised by a paid pro before I even quilted it. Just my opinion.

The woman who dated it for me is a certified appraiser. I specifically asked if quilting it would lessen the value. Her answer was "no".

I would love to see a pic of it. It sounds beautiful.