Welcome back to another episode of Open Line Friday. First, I’d like to mention that I have opened a Flickr Group –The Inbox Jaunt Quilting Guild. If you would like to add a photo–search the Flickr groups. I will be providing more information on how to upload a photo to Flickr in an upcoming post, but if you are already Flickr-savvy-please add your photos anytime. Also, you can follow The Inbox Jaunt on Instagram. Even better, if you add #theinboxjaunt to your photos–we can get our own quilt guild going on Instagram as well! It is extremely easy to post a photo from your camera to Instagram–so give it a try!
I have had a lot of questions about marking and batting This week we will discuss batting and we’ll save marking for next Friday.
Last year, I stitched two “college quilts” for my twin daughters. I used Hobb’s Wool Batting–which is “100% Washable”. The manufacturer recommends hand or gentle-cycle washing. They also do not recommend using a dryer. By those standards, my daughters’ quilts were abused for the last year–washed in a harsh, college dorm washing machine and dried in the equally harsh, dryer-for several minutes and then hung to dry. Even with this unfavorable treatment–these quilts feel fabulous! The wool gets better with age and use! Both of these quilts feel cozy and warm and like a quilt should feel on a cold winter day! I have used wool batting for several years, because I also like how resilient it is with heavy quilting, but until the College Quilts, I had not washed any of those quilts very frequently.
When I am stitching a small table runner or vase quilt, I don’t always want the “bounce” or loft of wool. In that case, I use cotton. I have used both Warm and Natural and Quilters Dream Cotton and I like them both. They both wash well and hold up to heavy quilting. Overall, cotton is flatter than wool-though with heavy quilting, both are quite nice.
I have heard good things about silk and bamboo batting and have even heard that some people layer batts. I would love to hear from YOU…
Depending on your point of view, you may have a different choice of bats?
Let’s get the conversation in full swing!
Lori
