Today, you can purchase a wide variety of batting. Cotton and polyester are the two main fiber types, but batting is also available in wool, alpaca wool, silk, and even bamboo. Batting is designated by the degree of loft which refers to its thickness. You can buy: low loft, medium loft, high loft, extra high loft and super loft.
Thin batting allows you to make tiny stitches. Thicker batting can be difficult to quilt by hand.
If batting is not good quality it may “beard.” Bearding means that that the batting fibers come through the quilt. Batting may be made by bonding or needle-punching to hold the fibers together; needle-punched battings can be extremely dense. Some people who hand-quilt do not care for needle-punched battings, because they are more difficult to pull a needle through than bonded battings. Bonded battings are bonded with chemicals and some people do not care for them.
While organic battings are environmentally friendly, polyester batting makes a good choice for people wanting to avoid allergens. Polyester holds it shape not matter how often it is washed and it is easy to hand quilt; however, it can be more difficult to machine quilt because it is somewhat “springy”. Polyester is also not as warm as cotton battings. Mountain Mist 100% polyester batting is a good, all purpose batting.
Cotton batting is excellent for machine quilting. If you want a nice, soft quilt, cotton can be ideal; it softens with age and is often the perfect weight when you want sleep under something that is not too warm and yet keeps you comfortable. Cotton batting does shrink the first time it is washed, so it should be pre-shrunk unless you want that antique, puckered look. Quilter’s Dream natural select 100% cotton is an excellent cotton batting.
