Batting Week - 2 Layers of Batting

As a lot of show quilts use 2 layers of batting and I do a lot of show quilts, I wondered what would happen with different double layered batts.

I've done two layers of wool.  The combination has great puff, it's flexible and easy to put through my machine, BUT what else could I do?

Here are three of my quilts in my Flower in a Pot Quilt Along (patterns available in the tab at the top of my blog).  The first has two layers of wool.

The quilt is very flexible and drapes well.  The feathers have a nice puff to them, the most of anything I tried.  It is definitely lighter in weight than the other two samples.

The next quilt has two layers of Hobbs Cotton-Wool Batting.  I love that the cotton-wool has the stability of cotton with a little puff of wool.  This quilt is the stiffest of the three samples I made.  It does give the feathers a little puff. and it definitely keeps it's "squareness" and shape which is something that would be good for show quilts.

The last sample has two layers of Hobbs Tuscany Silk Batting.  The Tuscany Silk is 90% silk, 10% polyester.  It's soft and flexible like the wool and has a little more puff than the two layers of Cotton-Wool.  I'm not sure why this is, but my husband the non-quilting engineer agrees whole-heartedly  with me about the level of puff.  It think this batting holds it's shape well like cotton too.

The most common combination of double batting is a layer of cotton or 80/20 cotton/poly with a layer of wool on top for puff.  I have used this combination in the past and like it too.  I think what really keeps me from using double layers of batting in my quilts is the weight it adds when I'm dragging it through the machine.  It's more intense.

The main lesson learned:  Try out different combinations of batts in your small quilts to see what you like.  Be sure to mark what's in them on the back so you remember (yes, been there, done that, have no idea what's inside!).

Be sure to come back next week to see all sorts of amazing quilts and classes from Houston!

I hope you get to quilt today!  (I get to pack for  Houston!)
Suzy

Batting Week - How do I choose?

If you're anything like me, you look at the wall of batting at your local quilt shop or show and can end up feeling completely overwhelmed.  While batting is hidden inside our quilts, it does have a major impact on how a quilt turns out.

I've done a comparison of Hobbs battings before which you can read all about here.  I've learned even more since I wrote this, so here we go!

Let's explore the different types of batting:

Cotton - cotton batting is flat, flat, flat.  It's fabulous when layering because the fibers of it "stick" to the quilt back and top and make it easy to pin.  A recent discovery I've made is that when you're doing a lot of fusible applique a cotton batting is fabulous.  It sticks and keeps the applique flat.  It doesn't puff out so the fusible isn't distorted which is wonderful.  After choosing this type of batting for a small project I realized the value it has in fusible applique quilts and will definitely choose it again for this purpose!  Another advantage of cotton is that it doesn't have to be quilted as densely as other choices.

 I like to quilt feathers and I must admit that I like them to puff, which is why I usually don't choose cotton.  But there are some blends available that do have some puff and a lot of cotton.  Many show quilters will put two layers of batting in their quilts (first cotton, then wool on top).  The cotton helps the quilt keep it's shape and hang nicely.  The wool allows for the puff.  I do this on small pieces, but have chosen not to on large pieces because it makes the quilt heavy and a bit challenging to drag through my domestic machine even though it has a 10 inch harp space.

Okay, so what about cotton blends?

Cotton/Poly - My favorite Cotton/Poly Blend is Hobbs 80/20.  It is "sticky" like cotton batting, but has a little poly in it making it a tad warmer and giving it a little more puff.  It is my batting of choice in my quilts for my children as it is durable and easily washable.  You can read more about it here on Hobb's website.

My Flower in a Pot #6 was done with one layer of Hobbs 80/20.

Cotton/Wool - This batting was new to me a year ago.  It's amazing!  I love Hobbs Tuscany Cotton/Wool blend which you can read about here.  It's 80% cotton and 20% wool.  It has the stability and "stickiness" of cotton batting and a little puff of wool batting.  I love it and can't wait to put it in my next show quilt that has fusible applique.  I guess I'd better get started on that one...

My Flower in a Pot #2 was done with one layer of Hobbs Tuscany Cotton/Wool.

What else have I tried?

Wool - Hobb's Tuscany Wool is my usual batting of choice for show quilts.  I absolutely adore the puff it gives my feathers and motifs.  I have used it in garments (mostly vests) and find it equally lovely (though I can only wear these garments in January as they are super warm!)  It drapes a little more than cotton.  I find it absolutely fabulous.  I have used two layers for even more puff.

My Flower in a Pot #7 has one layer of Hobb's Tuscany wool.

Polyester - I must admit that I am not a polyester girl.  Yes, I have used it.  However, every time I do I have regretted it.  I am sure that people use it quite successfully, but I find it has drawbacks.  The biggest one being bearding.  Bearding is when the fibers of the batting poke through the top of the quilt and you can see little balls of it forming.  Think about what sometimes happens to sweaters called pilling.  Same idea.  Because of bearding, I do not use polyester batting unless it's an 80/20 cotton to poly blend.

Below is a picture of a quilt I had quilted about 10 years ago.  Yes, this quilt has been on my bed and perhaps that's why it has bearded more than a quilt that has been on a wall.  It has poly batting of some kind which was chosen by the quilter.  No, I'm not mad that she chose it, but it's a bummer that the quilt is now all covered with white balls of poly batting.  It's especially noticeable because the quilt has a purple background.  This quilt is why I never choose poly.

Silk - silk batting is something I started using a year ago as well.  I've found Hobbs Tuscany Silk to be a fabulous alternate to cotton batting.  The batting is 90% silk and 10% polyester.  I find that since the silk is a natural fiber it has the "stickiness" of cotton and lays flat like cotton as well.  I enjoy using it in my quilts.  If I want my design to really puff up, I would not chose silk as it doesn't have the puff of wool that I like.

My Flower in a  Pot #1 has one layer of Hobb's Tuscany silk.

And there are more choices too, but these are the ones I have personal experience with.  One of the things I love about going to a large quilt show is buying small sample squares from Hobbs batting to try out what's new on the market.

Come back on Saturday to talk about what two layers of batting is like!

I hope that helps you choose and I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Hobbs Batting Comparison

When I first started designing my Flower in a Pot Series, I did it with the intention of testing different kinds of batting.  I have always used Hobbs Heirloom Wool and loved it.  As you are certainly aware if you read this blog often, I love to quilt feathers.  You can never have too many.  One of the reasons I love to use Hobbs Wool is that it has a great puff to it and it makes my feathers stand out.

At International Quilt Festival Houston I had the opportunity to talk to some of the wonderful people from Hobbs.  They gave me a Tuscany Silk and a Tuscany Cotton Wool batting to try out.

I started by marking the backing fabric with the type of batting. I am so glad I took these pictures.  When I was trimming the quilts I completely forgot to note which was which!

The quilt with the green pot is Hobbs Tuscany Silk.  It is 90% cotton and 10% Polyester.  I found that it stuck well the backing and background fabrics just like cotton does.  They're both natural fibers, so this didn't surprise me.  I did wonder if my feathers on silk would puff as much.

The quilt with the blue pot has Hobbs Tuscany Cotton Wool batting.  It is 80% cotton and 20% wool.  I found that it too stuck well the the backing and background fabrics.

The quilt with the orange pot has my favorite Hobbs Heirloom Wool batting.  It doesn't stick to the backing and background fabrics like the cotton or silk batting.  I think this is because it's really fluffy.  This is what makes me love it for feathers.

I quilted all my samples.  I used different feathers on each quilt because I love feathers (did I say that already?) and they are easy for me to quilt.  I have them in my muscle memory as I've quilted so many of them over the years.  So....which batting did I like the best?

The quilt above is the Hobbs Heirloom Wool and it's feathers are nice and puffy.  It makes me happy.

This second quilt above is the Hobbs Tuscany Cotton Wool batting.  I must admit that I was surprised how nice and full my feathers were.  They weren't quite as puffy as the Heirloom wool, but I am still happy with them.  The quilt is very flat, but with a little extra loft from the wool.  I will definitely use this batting again.

This last quilt above has the Hobbs Tuscany Silk batting.  It too surprised me with how much loft it gave my feathers.  Maybe it's that 10% polyester?

I ran a few other tests to see what happened as well.  The first was to to see which was the stiffest.  I think it was the Tuscany Cotton Wool which doesn't surprise me due to the high percentage of cotton.  The Tuscany Silk and Heirloom Wool both had a little more drape.

Of all the feathers, the Heirloom Wool definitely had the feathers filled out the fullest.  This is not surprising considering it's thicker to begin with.

Those are my thoughts for now.  I am curious what would happen with layering some of these different battings together.  Many show quilters will use a layer of cotton behind a layer of wool.   The cotton is for stability and to make the quilt hang nice and flat.  The additional layer of wool on top allows feathers and other open areas to puff out really nicely.  I sometimes do this on small quilts, but not on my larger quilts.   I do this for two reasons.  First, it's a lot more weight to drag through my domestic machine.  Second, this additional weight incurs even higher shipping costs.  My standard is to use Hobbs Heirloom wool.  I need to do more playing before I decide to switch.  This is not a hardship as I love to free motion machine quilt!

Time to go pin some more little quilts!
Suzy