Best batting

[Berny]

Quite a few of my customers supply their own batting, usually its warm & natural. I seem to have some problems with the batting showing threw in the stitching on the back. I find this frustrating. Is warm & natural a good batting to use?

Which battings are considered low loft and which ones are a higher loft?

Thanks

Berny

[dixieqwv]

I received this info from The Warm Company .

Yes, the Warm & White has a scrim, the same as our Warm & Natural...one side will look more flat than the other, put the flat side to the back fabric...

[ramona-quilter]

Dixieqwv,

I do the same. I learned "dirty side up" for Warm & Natural.

So the smoother side faces the backing. I love the

stuff. Warm & White also has a dirty side but less so.

I love the feel of W & N but I like the look of poly.

Poly gives such good definition to your quilting. I like

Warm & Natural's poly called Soft & Bright, it is a mid-loft.

I just bought a roll of Quilter's Dream poly, Select, which I

think is their mid-loft. This stuff is a pleasure to work with. I

have used the their Dream Wool, very nice and high loft. And

not much shrinkage. I have a case of QD Cotton Deluxe

which is a high loft. I have not yet used it.

I once did a quilt with pieced high loft poly. And I mean HIGH

loft. It really shows off the quilting but I don't like the drape,

it's almost stiff if you quilt it even moderately.

[dixieqwv]

Thanks Linda. I'm going to look for Warm & Natural's poly called Soft & Bright .... I'd like to try it.

[BobbieJones]

Linda: Where do you find the Soft and Bright? bj

[Charlene]

Hi,

I am not Linda, but I got my Soft and Bright on a roll at Joann's. It gives you the softness of using a polyester but doesn't have all the "poof" that a poly would. It quilts beautifully.

As for the question concerning the batting coming out thru the backing, my first question would be what type of backing is used? Is it cotton, poly blend or batiks? That could effect the stitching. Also do you put a new needle in when you start quilting. Sometimes I have to change the needle again in the middle of the project if the fabrics are stiffer or batiks. I'm not sure why the warm and natural is coming thru in general. This is a cotton batting and it usually for me stays together and doesn't come thru the backing.

Char

[sewingupastorm]

Out of the 68 quilts I have quilted here are the batting I have used:

Hobbs 80/20...................I am on my second roll of this stuff as I sell it if the customer wants it. It is great to quilt thru, drapes very nicely, even draps better ater a few washings, has a nice loft to show quilting.

Hobbs Organic Cotton: I also have a roll for sale but not alot of takers (they all want the 80/20. I love the fell of this batting.................much like Warm and Natual but a little softer. It quilts beautifuly and is a lower loft but still shows the quiting well. I use it on lots of my own personal quilts.

Warm and Natural. Slightly stiffer than the Hobbs Organic Cotton but also quilts beautifuly (I have used it for years on my domestic machine before I got my longarm). The quilts I did years ago and have been washed numerous times now drape really nicely.

Warm and White....................just a different color than the Warm and Natual.

Quilter Dream Cotton. I recently purchased 4 pieces and found it great to quilt thru but is is very fragile so when smoothing it after you roll your quilt it requires VERY GENTLE handling so you do not distort it when you hold it...............in other words it wants to pull apart easily. I was working with very large quilts that needed white batting so had to specail order these oversized king battings.

Quilters Dream Poly...................it quilted beautifuly but again it distorts when you pull but not as much as their cotton.

Flannel.......................yep I had a customer send me a piece of flannel to use as batting........................it worked fine but there was a drag on the machine and I had to slow down my speed somewhat.

For each batting I make a sandwich with the batting and fabric on front and back to play with the tension as each batting requires its own adjustments as does each cone of thread....................with the thread of the same brand I always check as some colors just are not the same as others for tension................these are minor adjustments though.

My philosiphy is that I will try to work with any batting and see how it goes. I have not really come across anyting I will tell a custome "never again".

I will be reading this topic to learn what others say.

[quiltjunkie]

I have said this before and I agree with sewingupastorm,

Hobbs 80/20 is my bat of choice and the Organic 100% cotton with scrim.

I love the QD cotton but have the exact same problem with the thiness and being very fragile to work with on a large quilt as most of the customers bring the REQUEST, which is the thiness and the least expensive, the SELECT is slightly better, I always warn them of the problems I have with the thin spots.

I don't care what side of W&N you put to the back, you almost always still get pokies. And those seeds in the bat start discloring your quilt after a couple of years if you have a light colored quilt so you better being using their bleached batting that is clean.

[SandraC]

Most of my quilts are done with Hobbs 80/20, the customers really like it. I agree with sewingupastorm about the organic cotton...I have used it on many of my own quilts. The quilt that is most on display in my living room where I meet with customers is commented on all the time. It is done with the organic and is soooo soft. Not many people ask for it though. It is a quilt done in 30's repro and white muslin and I point out how the seeds kind of emit an oil...to me this just adds to the quaintness of the quilt...but most people are turned off. Of course, with darker quilts this wouldn't be an issue.

[SquareOne]

Does anyone have experience with silk quilts? Do you have to use silk batting or is it OK to use cotton? I don't want any fuzzies coming through.

Also, any recommendations for needles? Should I use a small needle because silk fibers are thinner?

Thanks everyone!

[busybee]

I have a large silk one on now and it sews great. I have poly Medium loft and used poly white thread. It is working out great. Love to sew on silk. 1st time to sew on silk and thought I would have trouble . The only thing that I say is if you have to frog, hope you have cotton on back and frog from back as it will prevent pulls or snags. Ask me why I know that?lol Nita

[Quiltsinmotion]

Linda I justed used a Warm and Natural batting oh my gosh I thought I read on this forum to PUT THE DIRTY side down . I guess I am just lucky that it worked well . No pokes wonderful to quilt on . Client very happy . I am willing to work with any batting as long as I can get Sweet Dreams tension to work with it LOL

Love this forum

learn sew much

gotta go quilting

break over

[HoosierQuilts]

if anyone wants a roll of that Soft and Bright on a roll at Joann's here is a 50% off coupon offer:

just click on the link, fill in your name & email address and they will mail you the coupon.

http://www.joann-mail.com/J0470c3b/coupon_forward.html?r=0557156908&i=J0470c3b47

Jurgen

[quiltaholi_518]

Each batting has it's place in our projects. Each company that sells batting has a nice website that explains the applications of the different weights and blends that they sell.

http://www.hobbsbondedfibers.com/battspecs.htm

http://www.quiltersdreambatting.com/userguide.htm

http://www.warmcompany.com/products.html

I was using W & N, but have decided to go with Quilter's Dream for the better drapeability, just a prefernce.

The list goes on............

[CherylUribe]

I've never had bad luck with any batts I've tried. A customer just brought me some Warm and Natural and it was great. Love Hobbs. Lately I have been using Quilters Dream. I agree with Caron about its drapeability.

[victoriasews]

I find packaged Hobbs is very distorted and hard to smooth, but I understand the rolls are very nice.

I had trouble with pokies the other day - really bad pokies. The batting was Warm and white. I put in a new needle, messed what seemed like forever with the tension - still tons of pokies. I just left it for the day and went to the Chicago quilt show where I bought some Superior thread to try. I had not used it before since it was so much more expensive than the Signature I had been using. When I got home I tried it on the Pokie quilt and MAGIC - All the pokies disappeared. I'm now sold on Superior!

[Guest Linda S]

I like quilters dream the best. Not only do they have great batting and a huge selection of different types but, if you have a wholesale license, you can buy one batt or 20 at a time -- no minimum!

Linda

[Giftedhands]

I prefer Quilters Dream.

cw

[Sandra Darlington]

Me, too! It's the best.

[LorrieMN]

Quilters Dream.

[clovismom]

My vote is for quilters dream. I just bought a roll of the wool and it is really nice!

Raquel

[gailpeters]

Where is the best place to buy the batting?

[juliagraves]

Go to Quilter's Dream website. http://www.quiltersdreambatting.com

call 888-268-8664 if you have a business and set up a wholesale account

[Mary Beth]

Depends on the brand you decide on. Quilter's Dream web site as indicated from Julia, if you want Hobbs, go to someone who sells it by the bolt or box - not where you are required to buy 6 cases, etc. I have lots of batting to use up because of that. I make t-shirt quilts so I am not too worried about it, but that is a lot of batting to store.

[MarieBrewer]

Have any of you used Airtex 50/50? I am liking it a lot. The price is on a par w/W&N. It is very soft and is wider than W&N; a real plus for a queen size quilt.