Batting tests

I mentioned in the last post that I wasn't happy with how stiff the wool/poly blend batting went when it was closely quilted, so I've been doing some testing of different battings. The first one (blue) is Matilda's Own 60/40 Wool/Poly blend (before washing and after washing). I drew around my 6 inch square before quilting and then marked around it again after quilting to see how much the close quilting drew it in. After the piece was washed I marked around it again. As you can see the quilting brought it in about 1/4 inch and the washing nearly another 1/4 inch. So 1/2 inch over 6 inches. That adds up to quite a bit over the size of a large quilt. Washing did soften it a bit but not a great deal. Nice loft. The quilting stands out well even after washing.

The next batting I tried (green) was Matilda's Own needlepunched Polyester. A bit less loft than the wool/poly but drew in about 1/4 inch after quilting and a further 1/4 inch after washing. So almost the same and the wool/poly.


The pink sample is Matilda's Own Cotton Batting. Quite flat. The quilting didn't stand out as well. Still drew in after quilting and more again after washing but not as much as the previous two. Had the usual distinctive cotton batting crinkled look after washing which can look quite good for traditional quilts but not really my preference for the quilts that I do. Softer drape than the others.

The last one I tested was thin polyester Pellon. About half the thickness of the others. Quilted up fairly similar to the cotton. Very flat. Really didn't show off the quilting and crinkled up much like cotton after washing. Quite soft but seemed too thin. Pulled in much the same as cotton. I thought I would like this one but when it was done it was a bit too thin. I want to try some Bamboo batting but I suspect it will be similar to the cotton.

So, what did I learn?

Surprisingly they all drew in about the same amount from quilting and from washing. If you're going to do heavy quilting it's probably best to wash the quilt before you sew on the binding or you could end up with a rippled edge. If you're going to do heavy quilting don't just do it in some areas and less in others or the quilt will probably distort badly. The more quilting you do the stiffer the quilt becomes.

What will I use in the future?

I really like the wool/poly for quilts that don't have really close quilting. For the heavily quilted ones the search continues. I would really like your ideas on this. Let me know what you like to use for these types of quilts.