How to Choose the Right Quilt Batting

Choosing the fabrics that you're going to use when you're quilting can be really fun. Choosing the batting that you're going to use can be very confusing. There are so many different types of battings out there and pretty much every time we turn around there's another new batting or new blend or a new company coming out. It's really hard to choose, which one is best for the quilts that you like to make. There are a couple of things that can really help you when you're determining what batting to use. And that's understanding how the batting is going to be affected by the type of stitch that you do. How the batting is going to warm you, if that's what you're looking for and how it's going to look after it's been laundered, if the quilts that you're making with it are going to be washed because they're going to be used a lot. So understanding that a good batting manufacturer is going to tell you that information so that you can use something the way it is supposed to be used, is a really good way to start making those decisions. Asking your best friend is probably isn't the best way because she's probably making quilts differently than you are. So when you go to the quilt store, look at the battings that they have available that are in packages because that's going to give you the best information. Some quilt stores that are, are really paying attention to their customer's needs. If they have rolls of batting, they'll have a large piece of paper attached to that roll that tells you the information that you need to know too. So just make sure that you're reading you're batting information before you're purchasing. So let's look at a pack of batting, so we can understand what the batting is going to tell us. The first thing it's probably going to say is what the batting is made out of. And this particular batting is Rayon that's made from bamboo and then Certified Organic Cotton. After that, we want to know about its shrink rate. So here we have a shrink rate of 2 to 3%, that's not going to shrink very much at all. So it's going to yield a more contemporary looking quilt or product after it's been laundered. A higher shrink rate, one that's about 5 or 6%. It's going to be a much more rumply quilt, much more old fashioned looking. So keep that in mind when it comes to the aesthetic of your quilt. It also tells you how far apart you can quilt. Now, this can be very confusing because that information is simply saying that this batting will not fall apart, if it's quilted that far apart. So here it says "Quilting distance up to 8 inches." Now that's not necessarily good for your quilt. If it's a quilt that's going to be used, laundered, pulled on, tugged. Remember that you're really going for something that's no farther apart than 2 inches. So read your batting, so that you understand how that batting is meant to be used. Now, there are a lot of different battings out there like I said, so one of the best ways to really play with different battings is to contact batting manufacturers and ask them to send you samples. Some of them will have you pay for the shipping and some will have you pay a nominal fee, whereas others will just send you those samples for free. Then you can practice your machine quilting on those samples, write on the sample, what it is and what the batting is, and then launder it. So you see how it looks after it's been laundered. It's a great way for you to understand the finished product when you use that batting. So here are a couple of, of the bad things that I've experienced and that I've had either something really good happened with them or something not so good happened with them. But, the first one I want to talk about is the Hobbs Heirloom. It's an 80 cotton, 20% polyester. This was my go-to batting for years. It was one of the new battings when I first started quilting. It's still a really good batting. It's a little sticky, so it helps hold the layers together. And it's got just that little bit of poly that's going to give you a little bit more warmth but the cotton will still wick away moisture. And if you do a burn test on it, it doesn't get a piece of a ball of the hot poly which is plastic for about 8 inches. So it's a relatively safe batting. The next one I want to talk about is Warm and Natural. For years I said, I don't like Warm and Natural. I don't want Warm and Natural. And that was because it was so natural that it had lots of little cotton bits in it. While they've really cleaned up their act and now they have a Warm and White also. Both of these battings I find really useful for wall quilts. It's a slightly stiff batting. It's not as drapey as some of the others. So when you quilt it heavily it becomes a little bit more stiff which is what a batting generally does. So for a wall quilt, which you want to be sort of stiff, it's a great batting. But for the type of quilting that I do which is really close together. As a love quilt, if I use it, it ends up being a little too stiff for pleasure. The next one is Mountain Mist and this is their Cotton Blossom. Mountain Mist is trying to get into the high-end batting market. And so they've taken a cotton and added a little bit of silk. It's quite nice, it's thin. And the silk that they've added is enough to give it a little bit of warmth. Whereas cotton is not a very warm fiber, silk is. Which takes us to this 100% Silk. Silk itself is a very loose fiber. It has barbs on it. So the barbs will kind of interlock with each other but they're not very sturdy. And so most silk battings have what's called scrim. And scrim is simply a thin fiber or fabric that has been added to the surface of the batting to give it longevity, to kind of hold everything together. So without the scrim, the silk here can just be pulled away. With the scrim, it's nice and strong. Here we have wool, 100% wool is very, very warm and it has a lot of loft to it. That means it's really going to show the stitch lines. It is a batting that I use in combination with another batting. When I really want to show off the machine quilting. It's going to give you a great relief and it's going to give you lots of warmth. I know a lot of art quilters who like to use it for the wall because it just really shows off that quilting. I tend to use it in conjunction with this next batting which is a combination of bamboo and cotton, 50, 50, its by Pellon and I use it on the bottom and the wool on the top, so that I have even more loft and that I really get to see the quilting that I'm doing. My hands down favorite for love quilts, a quilt that's going to go on the bed or a quilt that's going to be cuddled with on the couch is by Quilters Dream. And it's their newer batting called Orient. And it's this wonderful mix of silk and cotton and bamboo and tencel which is like Rayon, very strong. It has a wonderful feel to it. It drapes really well. And it responds really well when you quilt the bejeebers out of it. So it's great for bed quilts and love quilts. The last batting I want to talk about is Poly. I'm not a fan of polyester, mainly because it's, it's not that it's more flammable than any other fiber. It isn't, but when it does catch fire it basically turns into hot molten plastic. So it's a really dangerous fiber. However, this particular batting is also by Hobbs and it's called Thermore. And they developed it to use in quilted garments. What I like to use it as is a stabilizer behind a fabric that I'm going to hand embroider. So it's nice to be able to use a batting for a slightly different use. So anyway, I hope that you will go out there and try to find some unusual battings that you haven't tried before and kind of play with them and get an understanding of how they're going to respond to the way that you stitch your quilts because the batting can really make a difference.