What is your favorite wool batting?

Matilda's Own 60/40 blend - Australian but available in the US. And no, I don't think I am biased lol. I have tried the others and still prefer the Matilda's Own.

If you want a real treat try the MO wool/silk blend - gorgeous!

I have to agree with Cheryl. I tried wool batting, but didn't handquilt it either. It was much warmer, softer and had really draped well. The next lot of batting I tried was Warm and Natural and I really didn't like it after using the Wool.

Dee > Matilda's Own 60/40 blend - Australian but available in

What I am interested in is, did it feel scratchy if you just ran your hand over the quilt top? I'm allergic to wool, what with my eczema, but if it a wool batting was inside a quilt, which is on top of several other layers of blankets, then it would be okay, I think.... I do want to try a wool batting, since the winters get a bit chilly up here in Scotland. I do wear a wool duffel coat in the winter, for example, but only with a long-sleeved cotton shirt underneath so that I don't actually touch any part of the coat!

-- Jo in Scotland

Jo

Matilda's is trialling a number of new blends - wool/silk, wool/mohair, and wool/alpaca. They all feel soft and have a wonderful drape. The wool/alpaca is probably the warmest batt I have seen, but it is not overly thick or heavy. It has all the best qualities of wool and alpaca, and I can't think of anything bad to say about it. The wool/mohair has a lighter feel to it as you would expect, and slightly more loft, but it is still easy to hand and machine quilt. The wool silk is "denser" with a lower loft, but falls beautifully, and I want to use one in a coat or jacket to see how it hangs in clothing.

I usually assume that a standard wool/poly blend quilt is the equivalent of 2 to 2.5 wool blankets in terms of warmth. The wool/alpaca would be easily 3 blankets worth.

It will depend on HOW allergic you are of course, but I have given quilts with wool/poly batts to friends who cannot wear wool next to their skin and they have had no problems. All they come in contact with is the all-cotton fabrics.

No Jo, not scratchy at all. If fact ( thinking hard here) probably like a soft felt. A lot softer than any duffel coat I have felt. I don't know what brand my batting was either but probably Matildas Own( I simply asked for 'wool batting').

We use 2 quilts in the swag when camping and have found that we are warmest with the wool quilt closest to us, but I guess that may not work for you.

Our coldest night has been about 2 deg C with a nice layer of frost on the swag. DH loves the quilts in the swag as it rolls up so much smaller than it would if we used sleeping bags inside.

Dee in Oz

I'm very allergic to wool, and I haven't had any problems with the Hobbs Wool. I had to wear surgical gloves while touching the Matilda's.

What about after the quilt was finished? Could you touch the quilt that was made using Matilda's when it was finished?

-- Jo in Scotland

I have a Hobbs Wool batt just waiting to be used. What's stopping me? I don't know if I should try to preshrink it, as I do the Hobbs 80/20. On top of that, I can't figure out where I would spread a quilt to dry, and it says not to put a quilt with this batting into the dryer. :( Any ideas, anyone? Have you successfully put it into the dryer and not ended up with a quilt with felt batting?

No problem handling it after it was covered with the cotton fabric. The problem was in layering it.

I don't preshrink, and I haven't had any problems with the wool shrinking after washing.

(And FWIW, if I wash a quilt, it goes in the dryer. How do they think I'm going to dry a quilt? If I hang it up outside, it will immediately get covered with dirt from the fields nearby. If I spread it out on the bed, my bed will be damp. Sheesh.)

Thanks, Kathy! You always seem to have the answers I'm looking for! I can't hang laundry outside (HOA rules), and I don't have a floor large enough that we don't walk on. Naturally, I have the same feeling about the bed. Thanks for the reassurance!

I noticed that Creative Grids have Hobbs Tuscany Wool on Special Offer again at the moment (they call it wadding)

I stocked up when it was on SO before Christmas but haven't used it yet. However, I do keep stroking it - it is wonderfully soft.

They also have the silk batting on SO - I got some of that too, so have a different thing for each hand to stroke!.

Their shipping charges are ridiculously low - only £1.95 within the uk however much you buy (except for mats and they are more). Mine came in a huge great big carton, still for £1.95. Also if you spend over £30 you can ask for a discount card that gives you 10% off for ever!

NAYY but my most recent order came yesterday (just tacks for my quilt gun, some thread, a little square ruler and some silk pins and I got the

10% off.)

We have the same rule, but the only people who could see it to complain are the two neighbors who are supposed to keep their cats inside who don't, the neighbor who hasn't landscaped her backyard (which was supposed to be finished four years ago), or the neighbor who floods my yard with his sprinklers. I'm not too worried about complaints. ;-)

LOL! Our neighbors are pretty nice, so I'd hate to subject them to a view of drying laundry, even if it's a quilt. ;)

Awww...a quilt isn't laundry! It's art! If I was your neighbor I'd enjoy coveting your quilt ;-) I laid an old bedspread down first, and spread the quilt on the driveway. (during the part of the day it was in the shade). Then turned it over for a little while, then, brought it in and "fluffed" it very briefly on low in the dryer. It was Hobbs wool batting. It comes out just lovely every time. (It's a couch-throw quilt, and with the cats, it gets washed a lot) I just adore working with wool batting. I don't like the feel of it while putting it together, but it just handquilts like a dream.

Sherry

LOL! I had to laugh when I read the bit about your quilt being in the shade, Sherry. Shade? What's that? ;)

In LV I think the correct term for "shade" is "inside". *snort*

LOL! Yup! That's correct, Kathy -- go to the head of the class. ;)

obvious)

Ha! I forgot to mention my biggest concern about this method. Shade=Big Tree Nearby=Birds. I put the Q.I.'s out on birdwatch and told them one drop of bird poop on that quilt and I would hold them personally responsible. Sherry