One word - WOOL
I know many will be totally committed to cotton and cotton blends but wool and wool blends are just fabulous for both M and HQ.
I tested a small piece of the Matilda's Own silk/wool blend batt I mentioned a few weeks ago and it is my new ideal for clothing. All the good features of both fibres, and no problems so far. Beautiful drape, quilts close or up to
8"+, was great in machine trapunto, couldn't fault it. I haven't done more than a few test pieces, but I love this stuff. I can only assume that the wool/alpaca and the wool/mohair will be the same.
For most quilts I use 60/40 wool/poly blend from Matilda's Own. Machine quilts beautifully, easy needling by hand, softens with "resting" (ie feels a bit stiffer straight out of a pack or off roll, but softens when shaken out), warm (wool has great natural insulation properties), soft, light weight, washes like a dream (well, actually washes just like a wool jumper lol I put my quilts through the wool cycle in my washing machine albeit carefully), and is dead easy to handle.
I know that there are American wool batts (Hobb's springs to mind, the only one I tried personally) and of course many brands of cotton and poly batting, but Matilda's Own remains the best IMHO, followed by Nu-Wool, another Aussie brand. And "No" I don't think I am biased. We have access to any number of imported batts, but use this by preference even though it is a little bit dearer.
NAYY all of the above, but we use a LOT of batting here, and it is nearly ALL wool blend in quilts.
BTW - if your table runner is for daily use and will be washed frequently try using fleecy knit fabric (what we call poly/cotton track suiting, knit on the right side and brushed fleece finish on the inside) without a backing. Washes easy, dries fast and looks like a "traditional" quilted item. We do this in placemats, and I have full-length curtains over a doorway made up like this for easy washing. Don't scoff until you try it!