Why the Right Batting Makes All the Difference

A few blogs ago we discussed thread and in that blog I mentioned one of the very last decisions we tend to make about our quilt is what thread we plan to use.  I’d like to talk about another decision we make towards the end of our quilting-making journey and that’s batting.  Quite often we don’t give batting a lot of thought.  I mean, after all, no one sees it.  It’s sandwiched firmly between the quilt top and the backing.  So what’s the big deal?  Surely any old batting will do.  Whatever I have stuffed back or whatever is on sale or whatever my long arm artist uses should be just fine, right?

Maybe.  Probably.  But if you’ve shopped for batting lately, you can see we have choices.  And if we have choices, then we have options, which means the type of batting we use may make a big difference in the quilt’s appearance.  I think it’s important that as you make your quilt you have some kind of idea how you want the quilt to look when it’s finished. If the quilt under your needle is a cuddle quilt, a throw, a charity quilt, or something along those lines, then honestly if you have some cotton batting or 80/20 in your stash, you should be just fine.  But if the quilt is a special quilt or one bound for a quilt show, stepping back and thinking about how you want the quilt to look once it’s finished is important.  So let’s talk about appearance.

HOW DO YOU WANT YOUR QUILT TO LOOK?

Drape – Do you want the quilt to have a bit of stiffness to it or do you want it to drape over you like butter on a hot biscuit?  If the quilt is show-bound, a wall hanging, or a table topper, you will probably want a batting which will retain a bit of body after quilting.  On the other hand, if you are making a quilt to wrap a newborn baby in or yourself at night, you may want something with a softer hand post-quilting. 

Durability – If the quilt is likely to see the inside of a washing machine on a fairly regular basis, then you want a batting which can hold up to frequent washings and dryings without issues and will not mold or mildew.

Heirloom Quality – If the quilt is one which you know you’ll pass down, and want passed down, from generation to generation, you need an heirloom quality batting that’s Ph balanced, so the fibers won’t turn acidic. 

Quilting Density – Quilting density refers to how closely together you like your quilting stitches.  Some quilters like their quilting lines close together and others like a little breathing room between them.  And sometimes it depends on the quilt.  A quilt which needs to retain some stiffness (such as a show quilt or wall hanging) will need closer quilting lines than a bedquilt you use every night and want a bit softer.  All battings have a quilting maximum listed on the label which tells you how far apart the quilting lines can be, and the batt still maintain its integrity. 

Loft – Loft refers to how thick you want your quilt to be.  Batting can run the gamut from 1/8-inch to ¾-inch or thicker. The thicker the loft, the more challenging the quilt is to quilt.  As a matter of fact, if you desire a thick quilt, you may want to tie it instead of quilting it.  A long arm can deal with a high loft (usually) but a domestic sewing machine may struggle.  If I am quilting on my M7 instead of my long arm, I tend to stick to a lower loft batt because my harp space is limited, and the thinner batt is easier to manipulate. 

Color – Generally batts can come in one of three colors:  Ecru (or natural), white, and black.  Each has its own merits, but the color I overwhelmingly buy is white.  It brightens the colors and doesn’t interfere with my neutrals.  The ecru (or natural) is usually found in the 100% cotton category.  It’s an unbleached cotton batt and has a sightly tan appearance.  I have found that the ecru color tends to “muddy down” a white neutral as well as other light colors.  I do use an ecru batt if I want my quilt to have a more “antique” look.  If your quilt is predominately black (or a dark color like navy or a deep gray), a black batt is what you need.  It will maintain that inky darkness.  Two concepts to keep in mind as you use black batt:  First, don’t quilt densely over the areas where lighter fabrics are used, and secondly, a black batt works great with over-dyed batiks or color-saturated cottons.  It makes them sparkle.

After you’ve decided on what is important to you about your quilt’s appearance (and often more than one factor fits in), now it’s time to shop for a batt.  While there are several well-known batt manufacturers (I personally like Hobbs the best), nearly all of them have the following kinds of batts.

TYPES OF QUILT BATTING

100 Percent Cotton

These batts are comprised of 100 percent cotton fibers.  When quilting on a regular sewing machine or an embroidery machine, this is probably the kind of batting you want, as it doesn’t create a lot of bulk you have to deal with when maneuvering the quilt through the machine throat.  Although this batting may start off a little stiff, over time it gives way to great drapeability and is the kind you want to use when you want the attention to be on the piecing and not the quilting.  It is not the best batting to use for hand quilting, though.  Cotton batting comes in two colors, white and natural.  Care must be given when using the natural color.  It’s kind of an ecru shade and if you’re using light colors or white as the background or neutral, it can make those colors appear dull.  Overall, white is generally the best choice for almost any quilt that you plan to use a cotton batting.  One more word of caution, before putting the quilt top on the quilt sandwich, peruse the batting for any cotton seeds that somehow slipped through the manufacturing process.  These can be oily and eventually leave a small stain on your quilt top or back.

You also have a couple of additional options with a cotton batt.  If you want your quilt to have that slightly puckered, antique look, wash and dry your quilt top before quilting.  Then after you quilt it, wash it again.  The cotton batt will shrink just a bit, giving you that slightly puckered look.  If you want a more puckered look, wait until the quilt is quilted and then wash and dry it.  If you want no puckers at all, wash both your top and batt before quilting.

Polyester Batting – Like polyester thread, polyester batting has come a long, long way over the years.  Polyester batts used to have an incredibly high loft and have thin patches here and there in the batt.  No more.  Today’s polyester batts hold their shape and thickness better than almost any other batting, but is very light.  It has nice drapeability, and if the quilt you’re making is one that may spend significant time in the washing machine, (such as a crib quilt or child’s play quilt) this is probably the kind of batting you want.  It stands up well to such treatment.  The loft is a bit higher on polyester batting (it can run from 3/8-inch to 1-inch thick), which means your quilting stitches will show up more than with a thinner batt and it adds warmth without weight.  Another plus is that polyester batting is mold and mildew resistant.  Polyester batting is my go-to batt for hand quilting.  It needles beautifully. 

Wool Batting —   I love wool batting.  It has a higher loft, running about ½-inch thick.  This is my go-to batting for applique quilts.  The higher loft emphasizes the quilting stitches, which in turn defines the applique better.  And despite the thickness, it’s incredibly light weight.  It is also very warm.  This batting is excellent for hand quilting or the long arm.  It is a bit bulky for domestic machine quilting.  It also ties beautifully.  Because of the ½-inch thickness, it doesn’t drape as prettily as a polyester or cotton batt, but you’re trading that off for definition of quilting stitches – your quilting with be front and center with a wool batting.

If I make a super-special applique quilt, I sometimes will use two batts – a cotton batt on the backing and a wool batt next to the quilt top.  While this does add weight to the quilt, it really makes the applique look spectacular. 

Cotton/Poly Batting – Like the name denotes, this batting is a blend of cotton and polyester fibers.  It’s commonly called 80/20 (80 percent are cotton fibers and 20 percent are polyester), and this is generally the staple of all long arm quilters.  It’s a great all-around batting.  This batt has all the characteristics of a cotton batting, with the loft of a polyester one.  It quilts well and washes great, too.  The drapability is good.  While I will always prefer a wool batt for my applique quilt, this is my go-to batting for cuddle quilts, throws, and play quilts. 

Bamboo Batting – This batting is still fairly new to the quilt market.  It’s comprised of 50 percent bamboo and 50 percent organic cotton.  In order to make this batting, the bamboo is processed into fiber using pollution-free methods with little waste — so it’s a “green” quilting supply.  The pros to this batting are it is very breathable and holds up well to machine quilting of any kind.  It’s machine washable, with a 2 percent to 3 percent shrinkage.  The cons to this batting are I have always found it a bit stiff.  It doesn’t drape as well as the other batts.  And there isn’t enough history behind this batting to determine how well it holds up to time, use, and the elements. 

Silk Batting – If I had to name a favorite kind of batt and cost was no object, this would be it.  It’s great for hand or machine quilting – needles slip through this like a hot knife through butter.  It’s appearance in either pieced or applique quilts is spectacular.  It has a bit of a higher loft than cotton batting, but it is so light that the extra bulk isn’t a problem.  Like bamboo batting, silk batts are a recent addition into the batting market, so it doesn’t have a great deal of history, either.  To stabilize the silk fiber, it’s blended with polyester. The silk batting you purchase is really 90 percent silk and 10 percent polyester.  It’s also important to buy a bonded silk batt to prevent any bearding.  Silk batting maintains its loft, it’s light as a feather, and it’s warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  It can be machine washed, but any quilt made with silk batting should be laid flat to dry.  This quilt batt shows off your quilting stitches like no other batt and has the best drapability of them all.  It is simply the best.  The only drawbacks to this batting are the price and availability.  It is more expensive than the other batting and is generally only available through web sites.  I’ve never found it in a quilt store. 

Fusible Batting – This is great for small projects!  It can be ironed temporarily to secure it into the middle of a quilt, which saves time because that means no pinning or basting.  However, personally, I’ve never been able to successfully use it in large quilt projects without it wrinkling on me.

WHAT THE QUILT LABEL WILL (HOPEFULLY) TELL YOU

So besides the types and characteristics of batts, there are still a few other things about batting to keep in mind.  All of this information is usually found on the batting label.

Quilting Distance – Some batting will specify an optimal quilting distance between rows of stitches.  Take a look at your quilting pattern and use this information to your advantage.

Scrim —  This is a light layer or grid of woven fibers added to some cotton battings.  It acts as a stabilizer and helps to hold the batting together while quilting.  This can be a good safeguard if you’re a beginner quilter or prefer a design with wider spacing between the quilting lines.  If you use a cotton batting without scrim, you’ll need to plan to make your quilting lines close together, so the fibers won’t separate in the wash.  If the batting has scrim, be sure to leave it in place – don’t try to peel it off.

Bonded  — Some battings contain a type of glue or bonding adhesive, which means the batting fibers may get looser once the quilt is washed and the glue or adhesive is rinsed away.  This usually requires close quilting lines to make sure the quilt holds together over time.  However, if a batting is bonded, it generally won’t beard. 

So….what’s “bearding”?  This term refers to wispy fibers that eventually seep out of the quilt top.  I can’t begin to explain how annoying this is – and disheartening.  You spend months on a quilt and then more time (and perhaps more money) for the quilting, only to have batting wisps make you quilt look as if it needs a good shave.  The way to avoid this is to use quality batting.  Trust me, you’ll regret using the cheaply made stuff.

Needle-punched Batting – Needle-punch batting is mechanically felled together by punching the batting with a lot of needles.  Because of this process, it’s a firm batt and it is denser than other batting.  Needle-punch batting is a great choice for quilts that will endure a lot of harsh abuse (such as a play quilt or a chemo quilt).  It’s also great for quilted apparel. 

This batting often has an odd appearance.  It has small “dimples” on one side and then raised dots on the other side, both caused by the production process.  Quilters have long debated which side goes next to the backing, the dimples or the dots?  Personally, I put the dotted side next to the backing.  I’ve always heard that if the dots were next to the top, there was a better chance the machine needle would pull up fibers as the quilt was quilted.  If my batting has a scrim, I also place it against the backing.  Sometimes the scrim can play with the machine’s tension, and for me it just works better when I place it against the backing.  I’ve also read that the scrim (since it’s a protective coating) should be against the side of the quilt which will receive the most abuse, and usually that’s the back of the quilt because it’s always against something – a wall, a bed, a table, etc.

BATTING SCRAPS

Just like with fabric, you’ll produce batting scraps.  Sometimes these pieces can be butted end-to-end and zigzagged together to make a “Frankensteined”  batting.  If your find yourself running short of time and batting (and money) a frankensteined batting is a lifesaver.  My only word of caution is this: Separate your batting scraps according to content.  In other words, keep all your cotton scraps together, your 80/20 together, etc.  Not only are the lofts sometimes different, but they have different shrink factors.  For instance, if you sewed a cotton batting scrap to a polyester one, the area of the quilt where the cotton batting is will shrink a bit and the polyester part won’t.  It may make your quilt look wonky.

I  have found that smaller batting scraps work great on a Swifter dust mop and are wonderful for dusting furniture.

IN CONCLUSION

Like thread, batting shouldn’t be an afterthought.  Consider the “lifestyle” of the quilt – will see the inside of the washing machine frequently?  Is it an heirloom?  Do you want your applique to stand out?  Is it a wall hanging or show quilt?  The type of quilt you’re making directly affects the type of batting you need.  We (thankfully) have lots of batting options.  It’s good to have those choices available to us and use them.

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Thanks to all who took the time to ask about Felix from last week’s blog. Since my blogs are generally written four weeks before the actual publication date, Felix is now just fine and dandy, living his best sassy-self life. However…he will no longer take treats off the floor. He only accepts them out of our hands or in his food bowl. I appreciate his skepticism.

Until Next Week…

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix