petpainter

Hi. I am packing my parents for assisted living and mom and I came across 2 wool blankets they received for a wedding gift (61 years ago). They have been washed tons of times, so I wondered if they could be used for batting. We hate to part with them, and they are in good shape. Space is an issue for me as I'm already taking many linens that have been in the family for 100 years. I was going to try wool for my next batting and of course I realize it's not the same, but is it doable?? Thanks to you all!

Tartan

They may have been washed a lot but that might have been in cold water and line dried. If you want to use one as batt you should machine wash and dry one and see how much it shrinks. If it shrinks enough to be felted, you could always use them for felt appliqué or felted mittens/purse/slippers etc.

feline fanatic

Yes it is doable. I have done it. However I have a LA. I'm not sure it would be much fun to do on a DSM. Wool blankets are very heavy, very stiff and scratchy. I did this quilt using an old wool army blanket but I also added a layer of hobbs poly down to give the quilting definition. http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...t-t221823.html

The quilt is VERY heavy and VERY warm (I can't imagine using such a heavy warm quilt in Florida)
The quilt does not have real nice drape but that is ok. It is a great quilt to layer up on our bed in winter and I have it hanging up on my wall in the summer
The scratchyness of the wool blanket still sneaks through the backing fabric, again not an issue for me because I use it as an extra layer on my winter bedding
It weighs a ton, as is evident by the sag on the line in the pictures.

I would not hesitate to use a wool blanket again but only in a quilt that i would purpose as I have outline above.

Quilt30

Heavy and difficult to quilt as batting. The idea sounds good but I believe the nature of the wool makes it unsuitable as quilt batting.

ManiacQuilter2

Have you thought of making a coverlet ?? Just a thought.

ckcowl

I have used wool blankets for batting before.... Works OK, makes very warm quilts. I did not have any problems quilting them

Jan in VA

I want to make a comment here re: the "warmth" of wool blankets in quilts.
Wool batting is not made the way a blanket it's, is less dense, it does not have the weight or heat of a blanket. In fact, I use my wool batted quilt year round - especially when the AC is on in the summer - but it is warm in winter because it allows skin to breathe under it in winter and therefore retains just the warmth needed on a winter night.

Jan in VA

pocoellie

I used a wool blanket for a quilt for my granddaughter, it worked great but it was/is very heavy and very warm. I would say go ahead and try it, although you may find them too warm for your area.

annesthreads

Glad you asked this, as I have some old blankets that I've been wondering about using as batting. Think I'll machine wash them, and if they survive, give it a go for some less precious quilt tops. The warmth would be welcome in a UK winter!

DebbE

I took an old wool blanket and just covered it with a whole piece of beautiful fabric that I pieced together to make it wide and long enough. Its incredibly heavy, so its one that has to go to the Laundromat when it needs a wash & dry as my machine would never handle it. But when I need weight and warmth, its the way to go! In the future, if I use a wool blanket, I'll cut it up into smaller pieces for smaller quilts. My wool blanket was an army one from WWII that my grandfather had - and it was STILL in great shape.