What Lies Beneath

What lies beneath the surface of a quilt is just as important as what is on the top and bottom layers.  There are so many choices of batting out there and for a new quilter its probably a daunting task to try and figure out what the best batting might be to complete one's quilt. 

Early in my quilting career, I used poly batting because it was what was available at my local fabric store.  They didn't carry a wide selection and the poly batting was cheap and readily available and it worked well in my lap quilted quilts.  Yes, I used to quilt my quilts by hand and often on the run.  The biggest drawback to poly batting was the issue with bearding, where the fibers poke through the quilt while it is being used.  I once quilted a king size quilt for my parents for their anniversary and used a Fatt Batt.  It was the worst thing I ever quilted.  I'm not even sure I ever finished quilting it.  But mom being the lovely woman that she is, loved it and used it just the same. 

After taking a machine quilting class from Harriett Hargraves, I found that cotton batting or blends were much easier to use and stores in my area started to carry a wider variety  I used Mountain Mist cotton, which had a scrim on it and liked it well enough until Warm and Natural came onto the market.   I liked the look and feel of 100% cotton batting and I especially adored the vintage look the quilt got after I had washed and dried it.  Cotton was breathable (unlike that darn Fatt Batt) and easy to quilt by machine. I went through a period where I purchased many vintage and antique quilt tops.  My intention was to learn to quilt them on my long arm, these were practice pieces.  Today's cotton batting was the perfect choice, it is more like what quilters in the 30-40-50's used before polyester was on the market.  I also quilt with cotton thread, so these quilts are 100% cotton.  I like cotton.

I also learned that cotton was a better choice for kids quilts.  Should there ever be a fire, the cotton will burn yes, but it won't burn the same way that a poly batting will, creating a sticky mess that stick to the kids skin and do more harm.  I was over using poly after reading that article and have pretty much stayed away from it for my bed quilts.

Now I'm not blasting polyester batting.  It does have its uses.  I use it in layers for trapunto and have experimented in different ways to make certain quilts dimensional.  Case in point, is my bagel quilt.
The bagels are actually stuffed to look 3D.  When people see it, they always want to poke at them to see if they are stuffed.  They are!  I encourage them to touch that one.  This was accomplished by adding two layers of poly batting cut into the shape of each bagel in between the quilt top and the layer of cotton batting used underneath but on top of the backing.  I'm sure it will be fine, no one is going to sleep under it as its a wall hanging and I have no intention of toasting those bagels anytime soon!

But I digress.  Now I pretty much use Warm and Natural, Warm and White, and Quilter's Dream.  Quilter's Dream Green is made from recycled plastic soda bottles.  It has the look, feel and density of Cotton and I like that its a 'greener' solution.  I've also recently purchased both silk and wool batting, but I have yet to actually use them in my quilts.  I purchase most of my batting in big rolls so I always have it on hand and seems a more economical choice for me.  I can cut and use what I need instead of having to go in search of the right sized bagged individual batting.

I'd be curious to know what types of batting you prefer as a quilter.  I believe a lot of your choices will be dependent upon whether or not you machine quilt your quilts, or send them off to a long-arm quilter, or if you are a hand quilter.  I know that loft in batting brands varies and this can really help or hinder the hand quilter.  The 'hand' of batting is key to the hand quilter.  Never, ever, try to hand quilt a fat batt! 

And what do you do with all those left over batting pieces?  There is a new iron on tape that will allow you to economically piece your left over battings into larger sections so they can be used.  Have you tried this and do you like it.  I have and I find that for small quilts, it works great.  However, I would not recommend doing this for any quilt that is a wall hangingor larger quilt that will entered into any quilt competition.    In doing so you run the risk of the batting being off grain a bit and not hanging square and flat which is a no-no for judges.  I have found, this tape is perfect for charity quilts made from leftover batting pieces!  No one will ever know the difference!

I have also given away smaller pieces of batting to friends that like to make miniature quilts.  I've tried my hand at miniatures, but find that its one of those things that I don't really enjoy making.  I like making big quilts.  So when I have pieces of new batting left over that are too small for anything else, I have a friend that happily takes these off my hands to create her wonderful miniature quilts.