Batting Advice

[Rita C.]

I am making a Double Wedding Ring quilt with silk (some from my wedding dress and some new silk) in between the cotton rings (6 different cotton fabrics) . What type of batting would be good for this quilt with will be on a bed?
I think I want a thin batting but not sure if I should use cotton, cotton-poly, poly or wool or some other type. I plan to free motion stitch in the middle of each ring.

[Lois B.]

I don't have a great deal of experience with these things, but if it were me I'd try to learn what those who know would think about using wool. I have machine quilted with it and love it. It's light weight would not overpower the quality of the silk. Maybe it's too light. But you need to get more experienced advice.

[Betty J.]

I love wool batting. It's lightweight and makes for lovely quilting of all types of fabrics.

[Nancy R.]

Part of your decision will depend on the look that you want and part will depend on your personal preferences. There are great battings for all of the content types that you mention. The cottons will tend to be flatter, while the wools and polys will tend to be puffier. I haven't done a quilt with both cotton and silk, but I've used each individually and have had good luck with both cotton and wool battings (I personally don't tend to use poly battings). The silk quilts that I've done have been wholecloths that are meant for the wall, so I've used a wool batting on top of a cotton batting. You probably wouldn't want to do that for a bed quilt. What I would do is make some small samples using different battings and some of your fabrics (maybe substitute a similar silk for your wedding dress fabric since that fabric is so precious) and see what you like. I would zig-zag the edges and wash the samples if you are planning on washing your final quilt. Then see which you like best after the washing.

[Nancy R.]

I like the wool for how it drapes and how it feels. It's not hot in the summer and it the perfect amount of hot in the winter. It kind of self regulates. You can get Dream Wool in a pretty thin batt too.
I hope you pre-washed your cotton fabric. The silk won't shrink but the cotton will. Same with the batting.
With such a special quilt made of something so special as your dress... I would soak the batting in as hot a water as you can fill your tub with first. Let it soak till the water cools down and make sure you've pushed it under the water to make sure it got really good and wet. Then, open the drain and just let the water drain out of the tub for a while, even overnight.
You don't want to put the batting in the washing machine and have it swirl around in water with the machine as the wool will felt and become a big mess. But, after the water stops flowing out of the batting (I usually just leave the tub draw open overnight), I do stick the damp batting into the washer on spin cycle only and use the spin cycle to get as much of the rest of the water out as I can. Then I lay it on the floor with a fan and let it dry, again it usually takes over night.

This might seam like a real pain in the butt, but unless you can get your hands on some Matilida's wool batting (out of Australia), all U.S. wool batting will shrink some, and it will shrink at a different amount than the cotton quilting fabric.

[Lois B.]

Kayakbabe, Thanks for the great info on batting. I have little experience with battings other than cotton,80/20 cotton-poly blend and Hobbs wool. I agree with what you said about wool being great for both summer and winter. Who makes Dream Wool? And how have you gotten to try Matilda's Wool Batts from Australia? Thanks again.

[Judith A.]

Quilter's Dream Wool is made by Quilter's Dream out of Virginia Beach, Virginia. I use it regularly. It is superwashed and thin. Quilter's Dream sent a box of their various batting samples to our quilt guild free of charge. Quilters Dream batting is carried by a lot of US quilting retailers, but I don't know if it is sold overseas.

I used Matilda's Own wool batting about 12 years ago. The quilt top was made of dark Maywood flannels. I wanted to use a dark flannel backing. I wanted a black batting that would not beard or make the flannel quilt heavy. (I had made a flannel quilt earlier with cotton batting that turned out to be heavy. I didn't want my second flannel quilt to be heavy also.)

The Matilda's Own black wool batting was wonderful to work with. This flannel quilt is soooooo comfortable. Warm and lightweight in the winter, and comfortable in the summer. I have washed it in the washing machine several times on the gentle cycle and dried it in the dryer on gentle heat, with no problems. I will see if I can get my husband and son to help me photograph it. It is a big quilt.

I think I bought the Matilda's Own wool batting online at Keepsake Quilting years ago, but I don't see it listed there anymore. Does anyone know a US source for Matilda's Own wool batting in the US now? I could not find one.

Judith

[Judith A.]

Thank you so much for the batting advice, especially on how to wash it. I have washed the silk ( it did shrink) and the wedding dress silk ( it was very yellow from age and I soaked it for a few days in Oxyclean (which took out much of the yellow) and all the cotton fabric before sewing. Happy sewing to all who have responded to my questions.