There are several varieties of batting on the market; but the most common are polyester “puffy” batts or flat batts made of cotton, wool, polyester blend and even bamboo. How much more confusing can it get? I have summarized below a few of the types of batts I have used and some I plan on using in the future. For the best results when it comes to finishing your quilts is to educate yourself on the products you’ve chosen to use.

Polyester
I feel using a poly batt has a place in quiltmaking, especially if I want to add a little fluff to my quilt. Sometimes I want a quilt to have a comforter feel, so I would use a polyester batt. A polyester batt is the preference of my children; it is lighter and has a comfy feel, even after several washings. I prefer to use a 3/8” thickness for baby quilts and a ½” thickness for larger quilts. When it comes to long-arm quilting, I will not quilt on a batt thicker than ½”, because of the machines' hopping foot and I am limited to the space where the quilt will move smoothly while I quilt.

Flat Batts
There are many varieties on the market, but I have my favorites; both according to product value and price. I want my customers to get the best value for their money, so I use Hobbs batting 90% of the time.

The Hobbs flat batt comes in an assortment of widths (I most commonly use the 96” to 120”) and comes in either natural or bleached. The 80/20 cotton poly blend batt is my most popular and is very versatile. It is lightly needlepunched and lightly resin bonded. It shrinks less than other cotton battings and has a little more loft. It is great for machine quilting and soft enough for hand quilting up to 3 ½” apart.

The Hobbs 100% cotton with scrim is another one of my favorites. I use the 96” width. It is similar to the 100% cotton Warm and Natural. The polypropylene scrim bonding makes it possible to quilt up to 8 to 10 inches apart. I don’t recommend this batt for hand quilting, but it is great for machine quilting.

There are several other types of batting I plan to try out; such as wool and bamboo. I’ve heard that they are wonderful and quilt like butter. So, I’ll have to report later on my findings.

Hope you find the information above helpful. To find your favorite batting, try the different batts on the market and then you can decide what works best for you. Remember, one person may like polyester the best and another person may like 100% cotton, but it is always a personal choice!