Bekah Posted September 28, 2006 Report Share Posted September 28, 2006 Just curious, have any of you used the Alpca blend batting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted September 28, 2006 Report Share Posted September 28, 2006 I did a quilt with it before I left Nevada and I hated it....it wasn't carded very well and it had big high and low spots within the batting and whomever put it together didn't get all the seeds out of it. It was a royal mess. AT this time I will never try to use it again unless they figure out a better way to control it....scrim would be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Linda S Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 I have a batt of it to use but haven't used it yet. Mainly, I'm a little afraid because it says you can't machine wash it. They may have fixed that problem -- I bought this batt two years ago. Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainmanda Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 My daughter was in a program raising AlPacas and the ranch owners and myself are discussing their making batting for my use in the store. I am not sure where exactly the seeds would come from being that the batting should come directly from the animal itself, but if the fur isn't processed properly I could see several issues in that itself. Once the ranch owners and I have a finished product to discuss I will try to remember to post here and let you know the final result. Remind me in a few weeks if you don't hear from me. Happy Quilting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeri Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 I have a roll of the Alpaca/Wool. I've used it on wall hangings and love it!!! Now that I have moved out of a house with many cats who curl up on my quilts so they had to be washed often I will do a bed quilt for myself with it. I haven't used it for customers as I wanted to see how it did first. It does have to be hand washed --- I do that in the washer with no agitation. I've washed the wal hangings and they did fine. So far the roll I have is beautifully even and clean. jeri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 Amanda, The bad experience was mostly due to the badly carded and not very well cleaned wool...it had grass seed hules and tiny sticks and things in the wool. Coming from a sheep ranch I was guessing that the Alpaca's were pretty dirty before they were shorn, and whomever carded the wool into the flat sections really didn't care if they got all the stuff out of the product. The bat that I was trying to use really didn't have any rhyme or reason to it...the fibers went all over the place...it took hours to even get it apart enough to even decide how to lay it on the quilt. I wound up just putting it into a huge ball and someday I will use it to stuff a teddy bear or something it really isn't usable for a quilt. Maybe someday I will try again, but you can be sure it won't be from that company again. I'm glad that others haven't had the experience that I did....I love wool battings, but for now will stick with those from the larger companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bekah Posted October 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 thank you for your replies. I guess we will wait to see what Amanda comes ups with. It sounds like it could be a good batting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeri Posted October 5, 2006 Report Share Posted October 5, 2006 Bonnie, let them know that you had that problem. If you don't have an e-mail for them contact me and I will send you one. They are very concerned about the quality of their product. jeri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted October 5, 2006 Report Share Posted October 5, 2006 Jeri, The package I got was brought to me by a customer about 3 years ago, it was layered in blank newsprint to keep the layers apart....she got it from a vendor (Alpaca owner) at a local quilt show in Sierra City, CA. She had bought it to use on one of her quilts and when I couldn't get it to work, I kept it and gave her one of my wool battings from Hobbs. I called Becky and she can't remember who she bought it from....she threw away the cards when we decided we couldn't use it. Sorry..... I wonder if a spinner would like this bat....it would make great yarn...just needs to be cleaned a bit more its not been dyed. Still in the natural state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeri Posted October 5, 2006 Report Share Posted October 5, 2006 Bonnie, I ordered my roll after I had been to Quilt Market last year in Kansas City and since I live here they brought it to me at MQS. If I remember right Sue was telling me they had had some quality control issues in the past but they had resolved them. Remind me off and on (I will forget) and I will be more than happy to send you a quiltable piece to try. Right now my quilting things are being held hostage. I left my husband and he is refusing to let me have my quilting machine or supplies so most of my batting is stuck in a legal battle (UCK!!) Thank goodness I moved my customer quilts, and my computer before he wouldn't let me take anything else. I would send it to you tomorrow but I can't. jeri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted October 6, 2006 Report Share Posted October 6, 2006 I'm sorry your machine is being held hostage.... bummer...hope things work out for you soon. Whenever you get around to it will be good. I don't think this bat was in any special factory setting...it was an Alpaca owner shearing her own herd and creating bats and selling them....no quality control issues here...there wasn't any quality control department. We'll keep in touch and go from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeri Posted October 6, 2006 Report Share Posted October 6, 2006 Bonnie, just remind me now and then as my memory isn't working too well right now with all the legal things I'm coping with. jeri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandraC Posted October 12, 2006 Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 A customer of mine just brought a package of Alpaca/Wool for me to look at. I had never heard of it before it was mentioned on this forum last week and now here it is! It feels luscious!!! I think it comes from Arizona, I just emailed the company for more details. I don't think I would have a lot of demand for it since it would be more expensive....but....oooh it feels so good. What is it about fabrics, etc. that gets us going??? I just got caught up on my Visa bill, how can I even think about this.....but oh it feels so good!!! My customer did say that if I could supply it, she would get it from me, hmmmm...;)maybe that's enough to convince me! I wouldn't mind hearing more comments about this batting. It is very clean, needlepunched and feels so silky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeri Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 It's also yummy to quilt and stays wonderfully soft even with very heavy quilting. The one drawback is that it has to be hand washed. I did it in the washer--let it fill up--stopped it before agiating--let it soak a bit---swish it around then drain and spin. Repeat with the rinse cycle a couple of times. Then dry flat. A plastic drop cloth over a bed makes a handy place to let a quilt dry. jeri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainmanda Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 I got an email from the Paca Peace Ranch this week. With trying to get ready for Houston I almost forgot to let you all know! Sorry for that. A lady will be visiting me when I return from Houston with info and samples! Oh, happy day. more to come.....stay tuned! I thought i had a picture of my daughter and her Al Paca that she learned/trained with a few years back. Her self esteem went through the roof when she participated in the Paca Peace ranch program. pacapeace.org check them out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainmanda Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 i just looked at the Paca Peace website and if you click on the Animals Helping Kids link on the left hand side of the page the girl in the picture is my daughter, Summer Rayne, with her Al Paca Prince Mogo. The girl on the first page of the website is her best friend, Ashley! Sorry for the bragging! I just love what this place stands for and does for kids. Summer father was in Iraq when she participated in the program and it REALLY helped her overcome her fears and shyness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grammie Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 http://pacapeace.org/animalshelp.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 How cool is that!! What a great thing to do for the kids and the critters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam.Nagle Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 I got a dark batt and a light batt to try. I want to make a vest out of the dark batt (and still have enough for a sample quilt. The lady (I'm sorry I forgot her name) was very sweet and patient with me. It is a very nice feeling batt. She was also kind enough to send me hand dyed sample fibers to needlepunch on the vest. She is from Arizona. Pam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judi Posted October 29, 2006 Report Share Posted October 29, 2006 I would like to hear more about this batting - Amanda - please keep us posted - If you can think about us after having such a GREAT time in Houston!! I'm sure it might take a couple of days to get back to "work" again!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue E. Posted October 29, 2006 Report Share Posted October 29, 2006 Originally posted by Pam.Nagle I got a dark batt and a light batt to try. I want to make a vest out of the dark batt (and still have enough for a sample quilt. The lady (I'm sorry I forgot her name) was very sweet and patient with me. It is a very nice feeling batt. She was also kind enough to send me hand dyed sample fibers to needlepunch on the vest. She is from Arizona. Pam Pam, I believe the person you are referring to is Sue Bunch of Mesa, Arizona. I have met her but I have never tried her batting. Please let me know what you think of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainmanda Posted November 1, 2006 Report Share Posted November 1, 2006 That is the lady who's information i received the day before i flew to Houston. Problem solved guys and dolls! this stuff is wonderful to touch and she has a line specfically for long arm quilters. I myself would use this batting for higher priced quilting, i'm not saying that to sound snotty, please know that. The pricing on this batting is worth every penny!!!!!! Unfortunately not every one of our customers is willing or able to pay for a higher priced batting. my 2 cents, for what it's worth at the moment!:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeri Posted November 18, 2006 Report Share Posted November 18, 2006 Sue is great!! I was lucky enough to get to know her at MQS in 2005. I didn't see her booth there this year but I only had a couple of hours to spend (not enough). Her batting is wonderful to quilt with. Her web site is www.BacktoBackAlpaca.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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