All About Quilt Batting

Today’s Topic:  How to Quilt the Sunrise-Sunset Motif

Welcome to Week Thirteen of The Better Machine Quilt-a-long based on my book 25 Days to Better Machine Quilting.

Find all of the previous Lessons HERE.

Sign up for emails of the class HERE.

Good Morning, Quilters!

Hope YOU are refreshed after the long Labor Day weekend.  And I hope you are ready to go back to school–quilting school.  We are over half way through the quilting semester!

Take out your notebooks–(the ones with extra wide margins for doodling) and take note.  Today’s topic:  Batting!

Batting–One of the “Big Three”

Once your quilt top is complete, three components work together to determine the overall look and feel of your quilt:  Motifs, Thread and Batting.  Batting is the middle layer of the quilt. It provides warmth, weight and volume and works with thread and motifs to create unique design effects. The three components are inseparable and must be considered together.

Unfortunately, we often choose our quilt batting based on what’s available or on sale at our local quilt shops.  To make a more informed decision, let’s start with the lingo!

Manufacturing Process

All batting begins as individual fibers of cotton, wool, polyester, bamboo or silk that are processed into a sheet which can then be used for quilting.  The fibers are processed either by bonding or needle punching.

The processing method determines how the batting feels and the maximum spacing between quilting lines. For example, batting with scrim has a wider maximum spacing than batting without scrim.

Bonding

Bonding is a method of combining the individual fibers by adding heat or resin or both.  Bonded batting is lighter and loftier than needle punched batting.

Needle Punching

Needle punching is a process where hundreds of barbed needles compact the individual fibers.  Scrim, a very tiny layer of polypropylene (similar to interfacing), is sometimes added.

Bleaching

Many manufacturers create a bleached version of their battings for use in white or light quilts.

Combining Fibers

Most manufacturers combine fibers into blends to take advantage of the properties of the fibers. Popular blends include cotton/polyester and cotton/wool.

Fire Retardant–Quilter’s Dream Angel is specifically engineered to be inherently flame retardant without adding chemicals.

 

Batting Characteristics
Drapability/Feel

Each batting has its own characteristic “hand”-the way it feels when combined with fabric and quilting.  The hand of the batting is determined by the fiber used as well as the manufacturing processes.  For example, cotton fibers needle punched with scrim will feel different from cotton fibers needle  punched without scrim.  Likewise, cotton and bamboo fibers processed in the same way, will likely have different hands.

Bearding

Loose fibers can migrate through the top and backing fabrics. Some fibers, like cotton, are less prone to migration than others (polyester). Consequently, cotton fibers are more likely to be needle punched without scrim and polyester is more likely to be bonded.

Loft

The resilience of the fibers as well as the thickness of the batting. The loft is determined by the layers of the fibers.  More fibers yields a higher loft batting, while less fibers produce  a thinner batting.  Most manufacturers offer a range of lofts.

Washability/Shrinkage

All battings, including wool and silk, are washable. However, some batting fibers shrink more than others. Cotton batting shrinks the most, while polyester batting results in very little shrinkage.

Warmth

Fiber and loft determine the warmth of the batting.. Some fibers, like cotton absorb moisture well and offer warmth in winter yet feel cool in summer. Other fibers, like polyester, lack breathability and are warmer.

Resiliency

Resiliency refers to the battings ability to retain its natural shape without creasing. Cotton battings tend to show more creases than polyester or wool batting. Consequently, cotton is often combined with polyester or wool for more resiliency.

COLOR

Batting can be bleached to turn it bright white or it can be left natural.  Some battings are dyed to create black or gray for use in dark quilts.

Warm and Natural cotton batting
One of my favorites: Warm and Natural cotton batting
This Week:

We will review how to choose batting, the importance of making samples and create a the Diagonal Starburst Quilt.

And of course–doodle!

Today:

Look through your batting (or buy a new batting) and layer a few quick quilt sandwiches with a different batting than what you have been using.   Try one with high loft for the Diagonal Starburst Quilt.

Continue reviewing threads and choose a heavy weight thread with good contrast for your project.

Doodle Sun Variations:

Hope YOU Batt 1000 today!

Your Batting Ace,

Lori

PS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy Quilts and are intended for personal use only.  Feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to LKQ.  For all other purposes, please contact me at Lori@LoriKennedyQuilts.com.  Thank you!

Visit my Etsy shop: LoriKennedyShop for all of my books!  They are ALL bestsellers!

15 responses to “All About Quilt Batting”

  1. What are you thoughts on which side is UP and which side is down? Always hear conversation on that topic and interesting to hear quilters opinions on that..

    1. For needle punched batting, you are supposed to place the batting in the direction the needles punched. The needle punches go in the direction your sewing machine needle stitches. I have tried both ways and don’t notice a difference.

  2. Hi Lori—
    A (few) question(s) 😊 relating to quilting threads.
    I see you use Superior Bottom Line thread. Since you are a Bernina ambassador as well, these are my questions:
    Do you use Bottom Line in your Bernina 770?
    If so, do you ever use it as both top thread and bobbin for straight line and/or FMQ?
    If so, what settings seem to work best for you?
    I have tried 70 and 80 top stitch Superior titanium needles. (80 Seems a little better)
    3.75 seems the best tension. I use a single hole stitch plate.
    I have been doing stitch in ditch, sewing slowly, and consistently have skipped stitches and shredding thread. (Can’t get across quilt once without an incident) Superior says Bottom Line can be used top and bottom, but maybe not on Bernina?
    Any thoughts will be appreciated. Thank you so much.

    1. I use 50 wt Aurifil cotton in my bobbin almost all of the time, and yes,I use it when I stitch with Bottom Line on top.
      I would try that. If that doesn’t work, you might ask your technician.
      Sometimes, even the best thread doesn’t work in our machines…This is why I recommend not overinvesting in threads until you know your machine likes it.

    2. My Bernina 440 has no problem with Bottom Line either on top, in the bobbin, or both. I probably set the tension around 2. Top stitch needles work well.

    3. Assuming
      (a) your needle is new and not bent, and
      (b) that the timing on your machine has been checked by a trained Bernina technician – if the timing is even slightly out, this will affect the quality of your stitches and may manifest with skipped stitches.

      I have a Bernina QE 440 and I found that I am more likely to have skipped stitches if I am using the walking foot, on an uneven surface – e.g. stitching-in-the-ditch on seams that have been pressed to one side. The irony for me is that this is the very situation that I believe the walking foot is supposed to help with! I solve the problem by not using the walking foot .. I’d love to know if this helps you too.

      If skipped stitches occur when I am not using the walking foot, then I check the flow of the thread – sometimes I have to lower the spool onto a different spool holder behind my machine, and ensure that the thread is not unravelling and winding around the spool pin – by putting a spool cap on top of the spool and directing the thread through a guide which is directly vertical above the spool and into several more guides to prevent even the slightest uneven tension on the top thread.

  3. On the topic of BEARDING. Here’s a WARNING to all quilters. I worked for over a year on a temperature quilt. Since I love wool batting, when I saw a wool/cotton blend put out by Pellon (yes, our fav interface company), I jumped on it. WORST CHOICE EVER. My temperature quilt and another I did for a customer were RUINED by Pellon wool/cotton blend batting. My quilt bearded so bad after its first wash I am unable to do anything with it and had to advise my customer to have her quilt dry cleaned! Please don’t EVER use Pellon wool/cotton blend on anything you may have to wash.

  5. Would love to hear your recommended batting for a wall hanging quilt. I am paper piecing a mariners compass, 26” diameter. Would hate for it to get distorted. Thanks!

  6. I had no idea I was so ignorant about battings.. LOL ! This is a college grad level class . Thank you Lori. Actually,
    I will acknowledge reports on my quilts made in previous years with great trepidation ! In my small lap or child size
    quilts, I have used 100% cotton flannel as batting due to recipients not wanting high loft quilts.What have I done???

  7. It sounds like the lady with the skipping stitches problem need to tighten her tension. The other lady who has the same machine says she has no problem and her tension is set on 2.0.

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