Wool Batting, anyone?

Nel, I haven't tried wool batting, so I'm no help there, but Welcome Home! And what a DH you have to take you fabric shopping even though you didn't ask. He's definitely a keeper!

Oh my what a double delicious Happy Day. Welcome home and hugs to your sweetheart. Moving forward, if I can from celebrating, . . . I'll just be dipped about the silk batting mess. I had really thought I would actually Pay For silk batting for my one day crazy quilt. We'd have to get out a crow bar to pry loose my clenched jaw when I forked over that kind of $s. And now you tell us it beards? Waaaah! Polly

"Louise in Iowa" Nel, I haven't tried wool batting, so I'm no help there, but Welcome Home!

So very glad you are home, Nel. Lovely projects to work on too. That's wonderful. Sorry, I haven't personal experience of wool batting; but I suggest you have a look in the RCTQ archives for threads on wool batting - there has been a lot of talk about it - all good, but it might reassure you to read the actual posts. . In message , Sartorresartus writes

So glad to see you back here. I have some fabrics for you next time I come up. They will probably be weel outside you usual choices...

Good for you both! Now the Deed Is Done you can relax and enjoy the fabric.

I don't know anything about the wool batting. so I shall watch you progress with interest.

Wool batting handquilts just wonderfully. I love it. I've used Hobbs Wool twice, and it didn't beard at all. It's much easier to make smaller, even stitches with wool. The needle just glides through it. As far as the end product goes, a lot of people say it's too hot. I didn't think it was at all. The quilts are much lighterweight than 80/20, I think. Not as dense or something. I used it in a throw-sized quilt that's probably been washed 20 times and it still looks great. I air dry it, then just fluff it for a short time in the dryer.

Sherry

I don't had quilt...one day

I do love wool batting. I use what ever the local craft store has in stock which I think is probably Matildas.

I have used silk batting once for DD 18th birthday. At the time the price was very compareable to wool so it was worth trying but like you I found that the bearding was terrible, never again.

Dee in Oz

I have found that I can indulge my love of the pretty embroidery threads if I use wool batting rather than something else. It just makes the needle glide, none of that pulling and pushing and weary, swollen hands. And it gives a pretty depth to the stitches. I'm in a doll quilt swap that just started and I have already decided to use wool batting for the little doll quilt. That will be my first experiment with wool for anything other than a little bit of hand work. I suspect you'll love it.

sunny (wonderful DH you have there!)

I have used Hobbs Tuscany wool batting for hand quilting and it is luscious. Very easy to needle, gives definition and has more loft than Warm and Natural. It is washable and I haven't had bearding problems with it. ( It does have a bit of a scrim, but not noticeable.) When I learned to hand quilt we used polyester because it is so much easier to needle than most cottons. But I really don't like it now.

BTW, I was able to get a set of sample squares of battings from Hobbs.

18" squares of each batting, which is enough to try a "mini" wholecloth to test the batting and how it works. You might see if you can do the same. (Or contact me, e-mail on this message is okay. I might be able to send you a sample of the wool.)

Pati, > Okay, so I'm home for good (DV) and having nearly finished the replica

Quilters' Dream cotton is a dream to hand quilt. I didn't like the Hobbs, (or the Warm and Nat. Cotton) and used up what I had on runners and bags, and have returned to Quilters Dream Select weight with a sigh of relief. It is soft to stitch and washes like a dream. The Cotton Patch has it, and so does my LQS Quilters Haven (thank goodness!). It was the first one I ever used when I did a sampler class with Quilters' Haven, and I was spoilt for life!

I am currently using some Wool, but it is quite puffy. I got it from Creative Grids when they had a sale. (got silk too). I haven't done much quilting with it though - all sandwiched up, full stop!!. Nice to handstich, but don't know if it beards yet.

The Wool is Harriet Hargrave's Tuscany. Her website says 'Hobbs Tuscany Wool Batting 100% Wool The same wool you love from Harriet's Heirloom line with Hobbs, but carefully hand folded so to be easier to work with out of the bag!' It seems to be more readily available now as the Hobbs one than the Tuscany. Perhaps the reason why it was in the Sale was that it was confusing/more expensive to produce the same product with different folding/packaging. The Cotton Patch seems to have this one too.

The silk is Tuscany too and am almost ready to sandwich it with the Birds of Paradise quilt I hand pieced - I do hope this isn't the one that beards, as I am planning to hand quilt it. Fingers crossed.

DH's with a good eye for colour are useful, aren't they. Mine has no artistic leanings at all, but can carry a colour in his head and his choices always work when mine can be trying too hard!

Happy quilting - how do people who don't have fabric/thread/knitting to relax with, survive.

Sally at the Seaside ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~uk

Sartorresartus wrote:

On Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:42:35 -0500, Sartorresartus wrote (in article ):

I used Quilter's Dream wool in a couch quilt (machine quitled). So I can't answer your hand quilting questions, but I can say no bearding and it washed and dried beautifully! Too bad it's a Christmas quilt, because it is actually my favorite couch quilt.

Maureen

I agree with you about Quilters Dream. It does hand-quilt beautifully. It's more...well... *flexible* maybe is the right word...than Hobbs Cotton. It has a wonderful feel to it too. Hobbs Wool also has a puffiness to it, it makes for a really nice depth in the stitch definition though.

Sherry

I've been using Matilda's Own wool/poly blend and I really like it. Haven't had any bearding problems, easy to quilt both by hand and by machine.

Susan K see my quilts: members.cox.net/kratersge

Thanks, everyone. That seems to be a wrap then (!)

I notice Cotton Patch have a good price on the Hobbs, so I shall order some today. A Kingsize will do the bed quilt and enough other bits and pieces to make it worth the effort. I am surprised that it comes out at roughly the same price as some of the other cotton and mixture bats. Good old Shaun (the Sheep).

Warmth, in UK, is a good thing. One of the problems I have come acrosss over the years of using thin wadding is the lack of it. In my house, with drafts and spurious heating system, warmth is paramount.

I got all the fabric washed,dried and pressed yesterday, so it is out with the watercolour pencils to mark up over the next day or two, whilst I await the postie.

Thanks again. Oh, and btw, the silk batting was okay with Kona Bay and Batiks, it was plain fabrics that were the pain. It must mean it needs either silk fabric (pita to hand quilt, if it's too tightly woven) or high count cotton. So, patchwork, especially hand pieced, might still be ok.

Nel (Gadget Queen)