sunnyhope

What is the best batting when you want a really warm one???

Also may i be so forward to ask you girls to send me a little piece of ur battings; a 2" by 2" would be enough: its mainly to just feel the difference in the battings :wink:

If we work it out on the bord here we would know who s sending what etc

I hope i m not to rude asking this but it would really help me out a great deal :)

Prism99

Probably wool. I don't know about now, but it used to be advisable to encase wool batting in cheesecloth before layering the quilt sandwich. This was to prevent bearding. It's probably still a good idea but may not be necessary with the newer coatings and processing methods they have these days.

For the batting samples, maybe you could start a swap. Instead of sending 10 squares of fabric, each person could send in 10 pieces of a batting with label info included (brand, type, weight, recommended quilting distance).

Also, some places online sell bundles of batting samples. I got one years ago.

Unfortunately, though, I'd say it's almost impossible to tell much from a small square of batting. In my experience, you need about a 12-inch square and you need to actually quilt it, bind it, and wash it to see how it turns out. Furthermore, you need to make separate samples for machine quilting and hand quilting.

I have been in one quilt store where the owners went to the trouble of doing this (using muslin for top, backing and binding) and hung the resulting samples (appropriately labeled in permanent ink) next to the battings. This helped a lot, but still didn't give a lot of information about softness. You almost need a baby quilt size to really tell what the drape is like, for example, and there's no way to tell exactly how well a batting will hold up to machine washing and drying without doing it quite a number of times to the sample. That's where online comments can be very helpful.

Prism99

It's true that polyester does not catch fire easily and burst into flames. That's what they mean by flame-retardant. The problem is that polyester burns even if it doesn't burst into flames. It may be flame-retardant, but it is not burn-retardant. When polyester burns, it melts and emits toxic fumes. If poly melts onto flesh, it creates a deep burn because it sticks (similar to napalm).

There's no perfect batting for baby quilts. Cotton batting is safe, IMO, because it is dense and unlikely to burst into flames. I much prefer cotton batting for baby quilts for a number of reasons, but I can understand why some people like polyester.

The problem with cotton is in loose children's sleepwear, such as a nightgown or loose PJs that allows air to freely reach the fabric from both sides. When this kind of sleepwear is ignited, the garment becomes totally engulfed in flames within a couple of seconds because there is plenty of air available to feed the flames. By the time someone can react, a child's hair will already be on fire. Cotton fabric is safe when the sleepwear is skin-hugging rather than loose.

mar32428

I buy warm and natural from the bolts at JoAnn's with my 40 or 50% off coupons which really helps. My quilts get a lot of wear with family and pets. I probably wash mine oftener than most of you and find they hold up very well and look great right out of the dryer. I also machine stitch everything from piecing to quilting. It's much stronger and certainly faster. I made one for my GD at the age of 3. She is now 23 and still using the quilt. Yes, it's faded from all that use but still intact and very soft and cuddly. I think the fabric will wear out before the seams do.

mar32428

Yes, I'm making her a new one for Christmas. At least that's my goal. I didn't say which year tho.

Mousie

I have another suggestion, but it will take time, before you know.
When you do a swap exchange, ask your partner to send you the batting info. Then you know what is in it, and can get an idea, of the feel, weight, drape, etc.
A potholder exchange, using different kinds of battings, one or two kinds per person, and exchanging with several ppl, along with the info, could be very helpful for a group. :D
(I'm suggesting this, bc I can't run out and buy a bunch of different kinds either, but this thread has me, very curious now. I would like to know, what I would like the best, too :wink: )

janedennis

I am using warm and natural now and I am very disappointed in the look, i love the feel of it but the stitch in the ditch is not very pronouced and it looks like i didnt sew anything. I expected puffyness. This is for my granddaughter and wanted it to be all cotton. Are there any more lofty type cotton batting out there?

Prism99

Cotton typically has a flat look. Warm n Natural has a needle-punched scrim which makes the drape somewhat more stiff than most other cotton battings. It also tends to shrink less than most other cotton battings, so you don't get the softening effect of lots of crinkles. If you look at antique quilts closely, you will see that they are all rather flat and crinkled looking because they are all made with cotton batting. (Not needle-punched scrim, which is a newer innovation.)

If you want loft in a quilt, you really need to use a polyester batting. This gives more of the comforter look that people have become accustomed to in recent decades.

janedennis

The thing is I dont like the polyester after a few years of frequent washings. My mothers quilts that I use all the time and I mean all the time have started to pull apart on the inside and bunch up and they looked great at one time but now very disappointing. They wont last more than 20 years at the rate they are going. These quilts were hand quilted by an amish group in Lancaster PA that my mother belonged to and the handquilting has lasted but the batting hasnt. Also the backing is getting very thin. I am going to Lancaster next week and plan to take one to be fixed by them, I have replaced a small part of the top but will ask them to finish quilting it so that it looks like originally did. Hopefully this will make it last much much longer. I was hoping there was a more lofty batting out there to replace it as I was very disappointed with warm and natural. But I guess all cotton batting is thin?

Prism99

That's the reason I don't use polyester battings. In my experience, they don't last the way cotton battings do.

There are different thicknesses of cotton batting. Warm n Natural is unique because of its needlepunched scrim; that is probably what you don't like about it.

You do need to be very careful what kind of cotton batting you purchase if it is going to be hand quilted. Some cotton battings are very difficult to hand needle; others are easy. Quilter's Dream is supposed to be a great cotton batting, but normally hand quilters want either its thinnest or middle weight; the highest loft QD is harder to quilt through and is usually machine quilted.

You may initially be dismayed by the flatness of cotton batting because you are used to the comforter look and feel. However, cotton battings other than W n N will crinkle up for a softer look. Also, cotton battings tend to become softer with each washing so that after 10 or 20 years the quilt actually feels even softer than when new. This softness, along with the softening of the colors as they fade together, creates a large part of the charm of antique quilts.