Machine Quilting with wool batting

[Jane P.]

I am planning my machine quilting design for an over-sized queen size quilt. I am using a king size wool batting. I am curious to how much quilting is too much quilting if I am planning to actually use this quilt on our bed. I tend to heavily quilt my quilts, and have found them to become heavy and somewhat stiff. In the past, I have used cotton or cotton/poly blend batting. This is my first time to use wool batting. I would certainly appreciate any help and advice on how to design machine quilting for a quilt top using wool batting. Thanks a lot for any suggestions. Jane

[Margo C.]

Jane, you might want to make a sample sandwich with the intended batting to test different densities of quilting before you start your big project.
Also, in order to reduce the stiffness, consider using a finer thread.
If you use cotton, try Masterpiece. https://www.superiorthreads.com/prod...d/masterpiece/
So Fine is a great 50 weight polyester thread https://www.superiorthreads.com/prod...nd/so-fine-50/
For a beautiful drape even with heavy quilting, 100 weight Kimono silk will help! https://www.superiorthreads.com/product/Fiber/silk/
Have fun!

[Rita C.]

I have used wool batting for my last couple of quilts and I find that you can do a lot more dense quilting without it becoming too stiff the way cotton batting does. I really love it to work with and will probably use it more often than anything else from now on. Good luck with the quilt - will you post a photo when you are done?

[Rita C.]

In general, wool batting can be quilted densely without getting stiff or heavy. I use it quite a bit in my customer work, esp for larger bed quilts. It weighs less than cotton so makes those giant bed quilts easier for the customer to handle, nicer to sleep under because it doesn't weigh down so heavily on the body, yet is warm and drapes well. It's also washable.

I prefer Quilters Dream Wool. Others like Hobbs Wool. I think you'll be fine doing your heavy quilting with wool. However, I agree with Margo about doing a test, never hurts!

[Jane P.]

Thanks for all the input. Margo, I appreciated the suggestions for thread. I'm going to Houston and will check them all out and hopefully make a decision. Wonder how much?? Rita, I will definitely post a picture if I ever get this quilt quilted!! I've been working on it for some time but other things in life get in the way of working on it. Plus, I REALLY want this done well!! Michelle, I bought Legacy wool batting at Paducah; do you have experience with it? I have some batting left over and extra fabric, so I will make a sample and see what happens. This quilt is a machine applique design and I plan to do feathers on it. I LOVE feathers!!!!! Thanks again for your help. Jane

[Jane P.]

I have not use Legacy's wool but I tend to think it will be fine! Can't wait to see pics of your quilt when it's done!

[Margo C.]

Have fun with your feathers and wool, Jane!

[Margo C.]

I am currently free-motion quilting with Legacy wool batting and am very disappointed in the results. The quilt has a lot of black fabric and the batting is bearding terribly. I bought Legacy because I saw a recommendation from a top quilter for the product. I would never buy it again. I had previously quilted a 60x60 wallhanging with a wool batt. This quilt also has a lot of black in it and I saw no evidence of bearding. Unfortunately, I didn't make note of the brand I used in that quilt which is why I tried Legacy this time. I would be interested if anyone else has used Legacy, especially with dark fabrics, and what your opinion is.

[LINDA T.]

Having tested over 125 different kinds of batting I can tell you that Legacy Wool is able to take a lot of quilting without becoming stiff as a board. However I am not sure it is my favorite batt. I have used it in several quilts and did notice on a quilt that I made a couple of years ago that there is some bearding on the dark red fabrics that is visible. This quilt is a nap quilt on our couch and with three fur babies it gets washed. I Love, love, love Legacy products but not a big fan of wool.

[LINDA T.]

I did another search of my house and finally found the bag and scraps of wool batting that I had used the first time I tried wool. It was Hobbs Premium Wool and when I compared a piece of it to the Legacy, there was a world of difference. The Hobbs had a much better scrim on it which made it more stable than the Legacy. I sure wish i had found this bag before I bought the Legacy. The quilt I'm working on is a wallhanging and I'm free-motion quilting it on my Handiquilter Sixteen. It's a large quilt and even with a 16 inch harp on the Handiquilter, there is still a lot of manipulating and arranging of the quilt as I try to get it in various positions. When I'm done quilting, I will lay it out and go over it with a lint roller and try to get all evidence of fibers off. My hope is that when it doesn't have to be handled anymore, the bearding will be done. As a side note, I emailed Pellon who makes Legacy asking about the bearding problem. Still haven't heard anything from the company. So.............no more Legacy wool for me!!!!!!!!!!

[LINDA T.]

Actually the Hobbs doesn't have scrim....what it does have is bonding - and I agree, I think it is better than Legacy. The Legacy feels better but the Hobbs performs better due to the bonding, not sure why it is better since they both are bonded batts.

[Susan B.]

Just to confuse me, there is Pellon Legacy Wool, and a Hobbs Legacy Wool, correct?

[Susan B.]

At the big quilt shows, do many sellers of batting sell sample blocks? I saw one in Lancaster, but didn't pay much attention. Next time I will. As I recall, they were about $1 for ~20 Inch square. It would be nice to have a bunch to compare without having to buy many bats at one time.

[Margo C.]

Just to confuse me, there is Pellon Legacy Wool, and a Hobbs Legacy Wool, correct?

Sue, I hope that Linda will come back and clarify that.

I think that "Legacy" is a trade name for Pellon.

Hobb's has a "Tuscany" washable wool batt. I use a lot of Hobb's washable wool but what I have is on a huge roll, and I don't know if it is "Tuscany" or if that is different from their plain Washable Wool.

Linda???

[Margo C.]

Pellon calls their battings Legacy. Hobbs has an upline of battings called Tuscany. Hobbs Traditional line of battings is called Heirloom.

Hobbs wool is resin bonded to resist bearding and it will shrink in the first washing up to 3%. Hobbs Tuscany Wool is also resin bonded, but supposedly won't shrink when first washed (I assume this means it was prewashed when made.) Both of these can be quilted up to 4" apart. The resin bonding is a chemical bonding and what makes Hobbs battings feel sort of scratchy when you handle them.

One big difference in the two is that all Tuscany battings are folded into larger plastic packaging, so are less wrinkled and less compressed when taken out to use than the Heirloom battings which are rolled tightly and compressed to fit in smaller plastic bags. The wrinkles are hard to remove IMHO.

The Pellon website lists the Legacy Wool as also being bonded and washable and should not shrink unless it is washed in hot water and hot dryer. It does not specify the kind of bonding used, nor the distance for the maximum quilting.

Quilters Dream wool batting is prewashed and will not shrink. Their batting is thermal bonded, which does not use a chemical... it uses heat to bond the wool to a super thin poly layer on one side to prevent bearding. The result is a softer hand. It can be quilted up to 8" apart.

Personally, I am a fan of Quilters Dream battings, and buy their wool on the roll and use it for my customers and my own quilts. I have used Hobbs also and would not hesitate to use it if someone brought it to me. I have never used Legacy products.