Types of batting - ?

[Judy M.]

I am just wondering which batting is generally recommended for hand quilting a wall hanging, which is mainly appliqued but has some piecing as well, for a beginner - so something easy to work with. I do like the 'flattish' look as well rather than very puffy - thanks everyone!

[Patti P.]

Jacky, Alex did a good segment in her classroom about battings. Just go to the daily blog and click on Alex classroom.

[Patti P.]

I am just wondering which batting is generally recommended for hand quilting a wall hanging, which is mainly appliqued but has some piecing as well, for a beginner - so something easy to work with. I do like the 'flattish' look as well rather than very puffy - thanks everyone!

Suzanne Marshall loves Hobbs Poydown for her wonderful hand appliqued and hand quilted wallhangings, I love Hobbs poly/cotton (20/80) but it gives a bit more puff to the quilt. And I guess you will get a lot of different answers to your question as we all have our own preferences. And it depends on how much quilting you will do on the wallhanging. 100% cotton will be ok if you do a lot of quilting but can be harder to stitch trough. You may need to go to your local quilt shop, bring a quilting needle with you and ask if you can try different battings out, check the feel of the needle as it goes trough :lol: :wink:

[Teri L.]

Try wool batting it still has some of the lanolin in it; that helps keep everything running smoothly.

Teri

[Judy M.]

I have tried many battings over the years for hand quilting, but I've settled on Mountain Mist Light polyester. It needles really well. I think Alex mentioned using a light polyester batting, but I don't know if she mentioned a particular brand.

[Judy M.]

I have seen Mountain Mist recommended before so maybe will try that. I noticed yesterday that someone on Ebay was selling samples of batting, 14" square, several types in a batch - I think I'll give that a try. Thanks everyone - x

[Judy M.]

I use warm and natural 100% cotton but others swear by poly blends. I recently saw a sample of Quilters Request and think that I would really like to try it. It just feels wonderful!

[Judy M.]

When I attended the Paducah show in 2004 I got a sample of a wool batting. It quilted like butter!

I also like the 100% cotton warm and natural or warm and white, but lately I feel like I've hit "seeds", so I'm going to use a batting with some polyester or wool the next time I hand quilt.

[Judy M.]

I have been using the Quilters Dream request for some time and it is absolutely fantastic to hand quilt with. I highly recommend it for hand quilting. I have converted many members of our quilting group (guild if you are in the US!) to using this brand. We can't buy it easily in Australia but Hancocks ships cases of 6 over quickly and quite economically

I recently used a wool batt for a small quilt I had made ( I won the batt and thought I would give it a try) I didn't find it quite so easy to hand quilt through but it gave a slightly puffier result than the thin cotton. This worked quite well in the quilt I was doing as I echo quilted most of it quite closely and left some of the applique leaves and narrow border un-quilted so they then looked fuller

Hard to explain!

[Judy M.]

Thanks for all the tips everyone! x

[Teri L.]

maureen, I have to whole heartedly agree with the Quilters Dream being great for hand and machine quilting. The ease on the hand is amazing. I use the request loft for both hand and machine quilting and love it to bits and pieces. If I had the space I'd buy it by the roll.


Teri

[Teri L.]

I have just ordered some of the Quilters Dream Request and am looking forward to it arriving. I have been quilting something I pieced together a while ago and the polyester batting I used at the time is quite heavy I think - it has started to give me an achey wrist already! x